That Boy Is Mine
by Shade Penn
Summary: Prime retelling. AU. If one thing changes, how much would it affect the things around it? Jack gets captured by the Decepticons, and when Starscream discovers the strange reaction Jack's blood has to energon, he sends a Vehicon to scout out how this came to be. Everything changes from there. Jack/Decepticons, Jack/Vince, Sierra/Arcee.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

_1994…_

June coughed and groaned as she held her stomach, feeling twice as sick from this flu and her morning sickness. She had been ordered to be on bed rest from her doctor until her flu cleared up. Neither she nor the baby was in any danger at the time as everything looked normal on the ultrasound and the other tests.

Her husband was being as helpful as usual with making sure she was comfortable in her illness. She kept him on his toes with her random demands for the strangest food combinations when her cravings kicked in, but they were surprisingly deliciously. Although her husband would often react in disgust when she insisted as much and offered him some, which he always turned down.

They had moved for the job opportunities to Jasper, and the charm of a small town certainly didn't hurt. But she'd always heard whispers that the previous owners kept moving out…strange, but they were just rumours.

June coughed again, and wanted this flu to pass as quickly as possible. Who gets the flu in a _desert _anyway?

* * *

_1998…_

June looked down into Jack's pleading eyes as he asked her for the third time not to let him go to pre-school. "We've gone over this, honey. I promise you'll have fun, you'll make lots of friends…"

"I don't wanna!" Jack shouted, the light of the kitchen flickering violently. "I want daddy!"

June kept calm, even though the reminder stabbed her like a knife to the chest. It had been only two months since her husband had one night just up and left, with nothing but a note explaining why. He couldn't handle her constantly being ill, and the added stress of taking care of Jack was a strain on his work. "Please," she said softly and gently ran her fingers through her son's hair, "do this, for me?"

Jack looked into his mother's sad eyes, and stopped as he didn't want her to look like that. The lights had immediately stopped flickering. "Okay mommy."

June hugged Jack and patted him on the back. "Now finish up your supper…and Jack, I promise things will be fine."

* * *

_2000…_

June had always been worried about Jack and how his moods affected the things around them. She had taken him to the doctors to see if there was anything wrong, but everything had come back completely normal. She kept quiet though about _what_ was exactly going on, there was no need to draw attention to it, as the mechanical failures were sparse and few if he got upset or stressed.

Jack had a good control over his moods, good enough for her to bring up these startling revelations to him. He hadn't liked the thought that there was something weird about him, and had a taken a while for him to even set foot into a lit room, but he'd learned to accept it. He did seem relieved to know _why_ things kept happening afterwards, and that it wasn't just a jinx or anything of the like. He stilled got annoyed when it had taken several tries for him to even be able to own a cellphone without it short-circuiting, even by accident.

June suspected that perhaps there was something else going on, and had wondered if her previous bouts of random illnesses were in any way connected. Though while hers had abruptly stopped after several years, Jack had been like that since he was an infant and it hadn't gone away yet.

Still, June hoped for Jack's sake it went away, she didn't want to break her promise to him after all.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_2010…_

When Jack walked on his way home, he felt like collapsing from sheer shock alone. Giant robots, giant _fighting_ robots; it was like something out a science fiction movie. _And it had been real!_ Jack had even pinched himself to make sure he'd actually seen what he'd seen. He could still feel his blood pumping in his ears and he leaned against the lamppost beside him to try and calm down.

He felt something like a static shock when his hand connected with the post and he had jump back when the bulb shattered. He checked himself over to make sure that he didn't get on the glass on him and berated himself momentarily about he got around any kind of machinery when flustered or anxious. And a lamppost still counted apparently.

Jack rolled his eyes and kept on walking while he continued to try and calm himself down. He needed something normal and he'd even eat the tofu dinner his mother would try to feed him for dinner. He took another deep breath to calm himself down, but he saw sparks run along the ground and into the other streetlamps and the glass exploded. Jack winced and looked around cautiously to see if anyone else was around to see that.

Jack hurried his pace down the sidewalk, but when he turned the corner, he caught sight of something that had been seared into his mind. It was the sight of a purple and black car that had transformed into one of the giant robots that tried to _kill_ him and the other robots with lighter colors. He turned on his heel and walked back the way he came and to find another way home. He glanced back to see to his horror that the car was driving silently down the same road as he was. He hurried his pace and tried to keep himself calm.

The dark-haired boy saw the sparks flee along the ground from his feet once more and this time sparked around the few cars parked at the side of the roads and their alarm systems went off. Jack took off immediately, fear coursing through him and when he glanced back, he saw the black car gaining speed on him and Jack tried to run faster, taking a sudden turn into a narrow alley and then between the houses on the other side.

When he reached the street on the opposite side, he leaned on his knees and panted heavily, trying to catch his breath. Why did he have to leave his bike at work? He sighed in relief when he saw that the there was no car on any side of the street and walked down the street to try and find another way home. He turned the corner cautiously and was glad that he could see no black car, so he continued on walking.

Jack heard a sudden screech and he whirled around, but he had no time to react as the black car transformed and snatched him off the ground. He felt a light shock and the robot nearly dropped him too, but with how high up he was, Jack didn't want to fall to his death, so he gripped at the hand and barely took notice of the sparks shooting from his hands onto the robot's.

The robot pressed a finger to his head. "I have the human that was with the Autobot Arcee." The voice the robot used was male, and Jack couldn't hear a response, so he waited with baited breath for what was going to happen next. "Affirmative." The robot said abruptly and tossed Jack into the air.

Jack shouted at the sudden weightlessness, but it quickly turned into panic when he realized he was about to splat. He shut his eyes as he felt himself fall, but what he hit was soft under him and he felt something strap tightly around his chest and he let out a soft grunt. His gaze darted around the interior of the car and he tried to claw the seatbelt off of him, but the seat jerk forward and his head was bashed against the steering wheel. The teen groaned as he was sat back upright and he slumped down, momentarily dazed.

He felt his head spin, but even with that, he could still feel the robot car under him drive away. He shook his head and grabbed the steering wheel to try and get the car to turn back and stepped on the breaks, and for a moment he felt something falter with the robot and continued in his effort to get out. The seat suddenly slid back so his foot was too out of reach, and the seat went back, so he was no longer holding the steering wheel. Jack's head spun again and he squinted at the wave of nausea, his hands going back fort the belt around him, though his efforts were in vain and his panic rose considerable as he grew more desperate. "Let me go!" he shouted and sparks erupted from his fingertips with each scratch to the belt.

Jack felt his throat constrict as the car stopped so suddenly, and he tugged at the belt, but the menacing voice made him freeze.

"Shut _up_, or you'll be dead before we get back."

Jack carefully weighed his severely limited options; he could continue, and _die_, or he could be compliant, and _hopefully_ make it out alive. '_I don't wanna die.'_ He thought to himself and stopped trying to get the belt off him and kept his gaze steadfastly focused on the ceiling.

The robot said nothing as he continued on driving, the bumpy road telling Jack that they were driving over the gravel of the desert now.

The teen attempted to keep himself calm, but every time the car would go over a bump, he felt panic rise and fall. If he hadn't tried to impress Sierra he wouldn't have gotten into this mess. He thought if he was ever going to see his mother, she had always been so protective of him, always worrying about him. It would suck for him to die, but he didn't know how she'd react. _'No, don't think about it._' Jack thought as he pushed away the possibility that he might actually die in this situation.

A situation he'd never once believed could have happened.

Jack stopped himself in time as he was about to ask what was going to happen to him, but he didn't want to find out. It couldn't be good anyway. Jack craned his neck to look out the window as best as he could, but the expanse of desert didn't give him a clue as to where he was, and he didn't know how to control these little bursts that had made him a walking techbane when he was upset or stressed. His  
eyes widened as he realized he still had his cell phone in his pocket, and maybe he could call the cops, at least to let _someone_ would know he was missing.

_'Please don't be busted too.'_ Jack thought as he reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out, nearly letting out a sigh of relief that it wasn't broken. He quickly dialed for the cops, but the phone flew from his hand when the robot made a sharp swerve and Jack saw it land on the other side of the backseat. He reached out as far as he could, only to have him firmly rooted in the seat as the belt tightened to an almost crushing degree.

Jack worried for a moment if the robot was aware of what he had been holding, but when he looked up, he saw through the windshield a giant ship and his dread grew as they got steadily closer to it. When the robot drove up the plank, the door opened and the belt retracted from him, letting Jack get out of the car, but as he ran for the plank, it started to close before his eyes and he banged on the steel in frustration. He heard the sound of transformation, and a loud crunch indicating his phone was no more. Next came the heavy footsteps, and he struggled against the hands that lifted him off the ground. One hand merely secured both his arms to his sides to stop his struggles.

Jack was too tired to feel panicked anymore, and the robot walked out of the room they had come in and down a dimly lit purple hall. '_Is everything purple?'_ he thought but didn't ask. He kept his head down to make himself appear smaller when they passed other black and purple robots who, though having the same blank face as the one carrying him, didn't seem all that happy to see a human with the way they tensed up.

The robot carrying him paused just short of a steel door, and the grip Jack felt around him tightened and he morbidly thought that just a little tighter and he'd be paste, but the grip loosened and the robot walked forward, the door sliding open to reveal a mostly empty room, the only thing present being the chains suspended in the air.

Jack was sure his face had paled as the robot, with surprising gentleness, pulled one of his arms up from his side and hooked it onto one of the chains before doing the same with his other. The robot seemed to shift as though he wanted to leave, but paused and raised a hand toward Jack, who flinched back, only for the robot to stop suddenly as the sounds of approaching footsteps were heard outside the room.

The door slid open and another robot walked in, this one silver and actually having a face with a pair of red eyes. The silver robot ignored the one that had captured Jack. "Where is the Autobot base?" The silver robot asked with a male voice.

Jack blinked at the question, but there was that word again; 'Autobot,' what did it even mean anyway? He'd heard that black and purple robot call the motorcycle one, was she the reason he was in this mess? "I don't know what you're talking about." He answered honestly.

This was apparently _not_ the answer the silver robot wanted to hear. "Oh, really now?" he asked with a touch of sarcasm before he scowled. "I have ways of making you talk, _human_." He spat and as if seeing the robot standing off to the side for the first time, his next words were menacing. "Bring the prod."

* * *

Sneering, Starscream took the energon prod away from the Vehicon and it stood back over at the side. He turned his attention back to the human and held the prod up. "Last chance, human; tell me what I want to know, or _suffer."_

The human stared back, that infuriating look of false innocence on his face. "I don't _know_ what you're talking about!" he repeated.

Starscream's sneer deepened. "Then you say pay the price for your silence." He hissed before he jabbed at the human, who flinched back, though there was no other reaction; no screaming, no pleading, _nothing._ Starscream frowned and stuck the human again, but there was still no response. He examined the prod briefly before he abruptly turned and struck it at the Vehicon, who reacted as he expected. "Well isn't this…_interesting._" Starscream mused darkly as he looked back at the human, who seemed to have gotten over his fear from the way he was being glared at. "Don't think your safe, human; you _will_ tell me the location of the Autobot base." He said and used a sharp edge of the prod to nick at the human's visible skin and the red fluid leaked onto the edge. This should be sufficient enough to tell him what he wants to know.

Starscream stalked out of the holding cell, his optics narrowing at the blood on the prod. This was the right one, and energon was supposed to react negatively to organics, so what went wrong? The prod worked, so it must have been that wretched human's fault! Well, it wouldn't last for long, once he figured out what made the human so resistant to the energon shock.

The seeker made his way to the lab, and instead of passing it off to one of the lesser mechs to examine the sample, he decided to do the examination himself. He wanted to get this problem fixed as soon as possible, and he didn't want one of those drones to make a mistake. He walked over to one of the microscopes, but before he set a drip on one of the slides, he noticed how the blood was reacting to the energon when he scanned it experimentally.

It _had_ apparently affected the organic, but just not in the way he'd expected it to. The blood was…_absorbing_ the energon.

"Impossible." Starscream muttered and quickly put the sample under the microscope, but there it was for him to see. The blood still seemed organic, but the energon had _merged_ with it, and when he scanned the blood once more for something other than simple experimentation, the second go had him reeling back.

It was faint, as this was just a sample, but the blood still gave off readings that were like that of the _Allspark_, but how was this possible?

Starscream narrowed his optics. "The human _must_ know something. Organic or no, one does not simply stay near such a relic without noticing _something_." He said to himself. "And I will be getting the information out of him." he added before he grinned maliciously. "And to think, _I_ will be the one to get the elusive Allspark…" he trailed off and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, though a scowl stretched across his faceplate the next moment. "For such a prize, the situation will require…_finesse."_

* * *

"Hey," Jack called out to the robot that was standing to the side, which had seemed to recover from the shock of being poked. It made him realize that the silver robot had wanted that to happen to _him_, and he was grateful that he hadn't felt anything, "can you come over here?"

The robot surprised him by walking over, even though he made no move to touch him. "What is it?"

"Can you pull my collar up to my neck, since I can't exactly stop the bleeding?" Jack asked and wriggled his wrists.

The robot tilted it's head before he nodded and lifted the collar of the teen's shirt to hold it against the cut. "You really should have just told him, he might just take it easy on you. You would only be left to starve anyway."

Jack glowered at the robot. "How is that better than being poked at with a stick?"

"...the stick _hurts."_ The robot retorted and Jack blinked. "The energon prod was intended to hurt you, and Starscream turned it on me when it wouldn't work on you."

Jack filed the name away as the black and purple robot was clearly talking about the other one. "Then why didn't it work?"

"It...truly is strange." The robot admitted.

They lapsed into silence, and Jack had the unnerving feeling that the robot was staring at him, but then again he was holding his cut, so it was just logically.

The door slid open, and the silver robot, who Jack could now put a name too, walked in, his expression blank. He walked up to them and his optics narrowed at the robot. "What are you still doing here?" he questioned before he shook his head and looked past the robot at Jack. "Are you ready to talk now?"

"I don't know anything!" Jack shot back. How many times was he going to have to repeat that until he was believed?

Starscream's face shifted to one of realization. "You really don't? Are you certain?"

Jack could have sighed with relief if he didn't feel so frustrated. "Yes! I don't know what these 'Autobots' are with how that one got me into this mess, I hope I never _do_ know anything about them!"

"Then it appears as if I have made a grievous mistake," Starscream said repentantly and then black and purple robot looked at him, but Starscream either didn't notice, or ignored him, "as our sworn enemies, the Autobots are known to be rather persuasive."

Jack furrowed his brow, and wriggled his wrists. "Then will you let me go?"

"Of course," Starscream replied and looked at the robot in front of Jack with a stern glare, "take him down, and escort him back to his domicile."

The black and purple robot nodded and took a hold of Jack with one hand, while he used the other to take the restraints off of Jack. He looked over at Starscream when he was done. "Further orders, sir?"

"Remain with the human, the Autobots might very well show." He replied.

"What?" Jack asked abruptly. "Why would they do that?"

Starscream didn't reply as he gave a significant glance to the other robot, a dark underlining in his gaze that Jack didn't quite understand, but the robot seemed to as he nodded before Starscream walked off.

Jack held his shirt up to the cut as the black and purple robot walked out of the room, though the grip on him was not crushingly tight as it had been before. He hoped that since Starscream believed him finally, that there was no reason to hurt him, right? '_Well,_' Jack thought and glanced at the robot holding him, _'at least I get to leave.'_

* * *

June pulled her car into the driveway, her brow furrowed though upon seeing the black and purple car in the garage, she started to get worried. She took out her cell phone and dialed her son's number. "Jack, where are you?"

"I'm in the house, why?" Jack asked confused.

"There's another car in the garage, do you have anything to do with this?" June asked.

There was a pause on the other end. "Oh! Yeah, I gotta…uh, bought a car." Jack replied sheepishly.

June frowned as she replied. "Jack, what on _earth_ made you do that? You only have a learner's permit!"

"I know mom, but I thought it could be good practice." Jack said and his voice turned sincere. "I really didn't plan on this, it just sort of happened. I wouldn't have bought it without a reason."

June blinked and she was suddenly worried. "Jack, did something happen? Did you get upset or angry? Is that why you got the car?"

"I…I didn't mean for anything to happen, I was checking the car out, and it just _happened_ when I saw the originally price." Jack said frustrated and the signal turned to static for a moment before Jack calmed down enough to talk. "The owners just thought it broke, so I said I'd pay them half and they let me keep the car."

"Jack, that wasn't very nice of you." June replied sternly.

"I couldn't tell them the _truth_; they'd think I was crazy or something." Jack replied tiredly.

June had to concede on that point, her hope that this strange phenomenon would have just stopped like her illnesses had. "Alright, but you are _not_ allowed to drive that car, you hear me young man?"

"Yes, mom." Jack replied relieved.

June hung up her phone and exited her car. She walked into the garage, her hands on her hips as she inspected the vehicle her son had gotten himself. She had to admit it was an impressive looking car, but then again, that didn't mean it was _safe_ just because it looked nice. She sighed, shaking her head. "I'm going to regret this." She said to herself before she continued on into the house.

Taking one last look at the car, June pursed her lips and walked through the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Jack looked over at the black and purple car as he grabbed his bike. "Uh, what's your name?" he asked and blushed when he realized he hadn't asked that.

"I don't have a 'name,' I have a serial number." The robot said.

Jack furrowed his brow. "Then _what_ are you?"

"My class is Vehicon drone of the Decepticon army. I am K-110R1." The 'drone' as Jack now knew, said.

Jack didn't think he could remember the number, even if it was just six letters and numbers. "Can I call you...Cory, instead?" he asked tentatively and wondered if he was overstepping a boundary.

The Vehicon seemed to shift momentarily as he propelled back and forth, like he was anxious. "Yes, you may, if that is what you want."

Jack frowned. "I don't want to make you…uncomfortable." He knew he shouldn't be so at ease as he was with a machine that could very well still hurt him, despite the fact he was _technically_ free. Though because of the fact he didn't want to see these 'Autobots' again, he should be at least somewhat glad there was someone around to chase them away. Jack blinked as he remembered the whole fight from yesterday, and thought maybe he would do better just running in the other direction.

"You are…_worried_ about me?" Cory asked, sounding somewhat astonished.

Jack shrugged. "While you're here, I don't really see why we shouldn't get along. Though you can't threaten me anymore, deal?"

"Deal." Cory replied.

Jack nodded and paused. "And…um, my name's Jack, just so you know." He added and pulled his bike from his garage, closing the door down behind him. He looked around the street, but he tried to keep his anxiousness down as he didn't want things to go haywire. He rode down the sidewalk; glancing back momentarily to make sure Cory wasn't following after him.

* * *

Cory…it was a strange name, but the human he was ordered to watch was strange as well. He had nothing but the basics that the other drones had, but the continued contact the human had with him, it changed him; he was gaining more of a personality, starting to think more for himself, albeit very slowly. The inclusion of a _name_ for him, even if it was an organic one, only added to it that he was starting to become his _own_ mech.

Though his loyalty to the Decepticon cause still remained; even if opinion of the Commander was starting to wane slightly, as the seeker was rather unpleasant to be around, he still dutifully _decided_ to follow through on his order. He found the fact he could now even _make_ a decision on his own still fascinating to him.

Cory recalled the other order that had been assigned to him, and he'd continued to be surprised. When he scanned the human, he had found the same readings that Commander Starscream had data burst him to look out for. He had checked the second human, this one the male human told him was his 'mother' or caregiver, and the result he'd gotten back from the scanning was startling.

Unlike the organic…_Jack_, his mother had similar readings as Jack did. He turned his attention to the rest of the domicile and scanned around throughout the night to find what may have caused this strangeness in the humans. Had it really been the Allspark or had the energon just fused with them in some way?

Cory thought in his processor for how the Allspark readings could have infected the humans without killing them. He thought about how the humans needed to survive and recalled the sound of flowing water in the house. Was that how it could have happened? Could the water be infected? It was a possibility, so he scanned the ground for any signs of energon or the Allspark signature in the water supply. If it was true, then this meant all these humans could be infected. Starscream would _not_ like that.

What he found when he scanned the ground underneath him, was the most surprising thing of all. There _was_ something in the ground, only it was weaker than he expected, like it had been drained, but the readings were clear.

Beneath his wheels was the _Allspark_ itself. He decided it was at this point he should inform the Commander of this discovery.

_:Commander Starscream, come in, Commander Starscream.:_

_:Have you found something already?:_ Starscream questioned, sounding both annoyed and intrigued.

_:Yes, the Allspark itself is buried under this human's domicile, for both he and his organic creator both have the same readings, though the Allspark reading in the creator is greater than the human male.:_ Cory relayed. _:Further orders, sir?:_

The Commander didn't reply for the longest time, though Cory suspected that he was just trying to get over his shock. _:What are you waiting for? Bring the Allspark here immediately!:_

_:Sir…:_ Cory trailed off hesitantly, though he had to tell his Commander about the results of the search. _:The readings I received of the Allspark were very faint, like it was drained of power.:_

_:…the **humans.**: _Starscream said maliciously. _:They are no doubt the reason, with nothing else in proximity, the Allspark must have been giving off large amounts of radiation…:_ he trailed off momentarily, but then his voice turned sharp. _:Remain where you are until the humans return, and bring them **both** back to the ship, this requires further study. Though I suppose for now the Allspark can remain where it is, if the reading is as faint as you say, then it really **is** just a trinket by this point.:_

Cory heard the line go dead, and had he not been slowly given a personality, he wouldn't have found this annoying. But he did, and it was also quite rude.

Now he had to think of a way to get both Jack and his mother back to the _Nemesis_, as his previous interactions with the human male on the ship and the Commander's own were less than pleasant and he would no doubt be highly reluctant to return.

* * *

After receiving the report from the Vehicon, Starscream wanted to go to that wretched human place and take the Allspark for himself, but if the power wasn't in the relic, then it had transferred itself. To one of the humans, and the best bet was to just get both of them back to the ship as soon as possible. Unfortunately, that meant this had to be discreet or the Autobots would no doubt be aware of the readings he had picked up and go after the humans as well.

To think that of all places the Allspark could have been sent, it was _here_.

He would have to have things ready for when the Vehicon brought the humans back, and he would have to lull them into letting him run some tests on them. Starscream frowned as he knew he couldn't very well just kill either of them, the prospect of having the power of the Allspark in his hands, even having to play nice with some organics, would be worth the power of the Allspark.

It would certainly show the troops he was only fit to be their leader.

Although, if the power wasn't able to be extracted, that left a bit of an impasse, as one little slip up could send them running to the Autobots. Though the human boy showed disdain for them, he could no doubt imagine if he were to treat the earlier incident from the other solar cycle as anything other than a grave misunderstanding, that power would slip through his servos.

_'It's only two organics, just **two**.' _Starscream thought and walked down to the lab.

As difficult as it was going to be, he had to make it seem _inviting_ after all.

* * *

When the lunch bell rang, Jack had never felt more hungry or relieved. He had spent the majority of his classes worrying if those 'Autobots' might find Cory, and also about if Sierra was scared off from him because of what happened the previous day. He thought about going to the cafeteria to eat, but realized he'd saved enough to go out and get a quick meal. Maybe he could go to KO Burger, just for one moment to be the one being _served_ than the other way around.

He hurried out of the school, only pausing to check around for any suspicious-looking vehicle from the previous day before continuing on to reach where he parked his bike.

"Still riding that old thing, huh?"

Jack looked up at the class tormentor, Vince, who was in a sleek car. "It's a lot safer than that disaster waiting to happen." He retorted.

"Says the guy who still rides a bike to school." Vince shot back.

Jack's temper flared, but he tried to keep it from showing on his face. "I have a car, it's just not here." He didn't know how Cory might _actually_ react to him saying he was his car, but it just seemed safer to never say that to the Vehicon's face.

Vince raised a brow, his expression giving away just how much he didn't believe Jack. "Oh really? Then why aren't you driving it, unless of course you're all talk?"

Jack pursed his lips, debating whether or not he should prove that he really did have a car. "Unlike you, I don't feel like showing off."

"Kinda hard to show off, if you don't have anything to show!" Vince retorted.

Narrowing his eyes, Jack marched up to the window of Vince's car. "You want proof? Come to my house after school, and I'll show just how much cooler my car is to yours!"

Vince huffed. "As if!" he replied haughtily. "But I'll take you on, and we'll see just how cool your car is."

* * *

When she heard the shouting, Miko looked over at the commotion with a redhead in a flame-decorated car, and another teen with dark hair. She'd seen both of them around school, but she'd never talked to them. She was still new to the area, but she thought this place was _boring!_ She almost wished she hadn't gone into the exchange program.

"Can't you believe that? _Boys."_ A feminine voice said annoyed from behind her.

Miko looked back and there was a blonde-haired girl standing on the top steps, overlooking the two by the car arguing. Miko didn't know her name, but she still recognized her instantly from detention. "I know! It's not like that car's even that cool!" she added. "A monster truck, now that's cool!"

The blonde smirked at her. "Now you, you've got taste." She paused and narrowed her eyes slightly. "You're that new girl, right? Man, and I thought I was the only who was in detention almost every day."

"Yeah, I'm Miko." The dark-haired girl said.

"Maggie," The blonde replied and narrowed her eyes further, "and _don't_ call me Margaret."

Miko grinned, thinking of ways to already tease this girl. "Why? Not a fan of your name?"

"No, my name is not a _nickname_, and I hate it when people think it is." Maggie said sullenly. She rolled back one of her sleeves and huffed. "I better go, before one of the teachers see me and think I'm up to something." She said smirking.

Miko laughed and watching the two boys squabble was the last thing on her mind. She just found someone a lot more interesting. "Say, you into rock music? I could always use new members for a band!"

Maggie quirked a brow, looking interested. "A band? Well I do have the most awesome pipes ever!" she boasted with a laugh.

_'This place may be boring, but this girl definitely isn't.'_ Miko thought and laughed along with Maggie.

* * *

Jack had immediately felt stupid for even suggesting showing Vince to Cory. The redhead would probably make some dumb remark and make the Vehicon angry. The result of such a thing had him worried, and Jack had to keep his emotions tightly closed off or the lights were gonna end up flickering throughout the rest of the day.

If only one person got suspicious enough…

Jack let that train of thought die, as he very much didn't want to think about it. He'd always been hoping that this would just go away, like his mother said it would, but each time something happened, he was less sure if it was going to disappear at all.

When the final bell had rung, Jack was relieved as he went to gather his books up from his locker. He could back out of the deal, but then Vince would be even harder on him for being a 'chicken.' He gritted his teeth and made his way to the exit, avoiding the other students who just as badly wanted to get out of the school.

Once outside, Jack saw Raf, a rather young student, and the other person who saw the giant, fighting robots too. He felt bad that the kid had to see such a thing, if it scared the hell out of him, then he couldn't even imagine what Raf must have felt. "Hey, Raf." He called, in an attempt to be friendly as he passed that new transfer student.

The boy looked up at him in surprise, but there was also recognition. "Hi, Jack. Pretty crazy about yesterday, huh?"

Jack smiled thinly. That was _one_ way of putting it. "Yeah, _real_ crazy; still can't believe what I saw."In fact, he couldn't believe what he had in his garage at home either. Jack froze as he saw the yellow car from the previous day come driving up beside them, making those strange beeps and zips as well. "Does he want us to get in?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

"Actually, he's my ride, yours is over there." Raf said pointing over to the bike racks.

"You can understand him?" Jack asked, but then he was distracted by what Raf was pointing at. He felt his face pale as he recognized the motorcycle that had gotten him into this mess. While he knew that wasn't exactly fair, his life had been _relatively_ normal until now. He looked back at Raf, just as the boy was about to get into the car. "Are you sure it's safe?"

The yellow car beeped again and Raf answered. "He says I'll be fine, that there's nothing to worry about."

Jack smiled like he was relieved, when inside he was panicking even more. "Alright then." He said before walking toward the blue motorbike, feeling like each step he took was heavier than the last. As he reached the bike, he mechanically pulled the motorbike from the rack and decided to go into the nearby alley to try and get her to leave him alone.

When Jack reached the other side of the street, his nerves couldn't be restrained and he felt the sparks shot off his fingers, wincing as he hoped the 'Autobot' didn't notice it. He was about to speak, but a voice he thought he'd never be happy to hear rang out.

"Hey, Darby, you chickening out?"

Jack spun around, leaving the bike in the alley, and hurried his pace out to meet Vince. "Of course not, why don't you give me a lift? It'll be a point in your favor, anyway."

Vince stared at him, squinting his eyes before he smirked. "Sure, Darby, get in. But you mess anything up, I'll mess you up."

Jack nodded, not even fazed at the threat as he wanted to get away from the Autobot as quickly as possible. "Yeah, yeah, I get it." He said and went to the passenger side to get in.

As the car drove away, the blue motorbike straightened up and went further into the alley. Arcee transformed and put a servo to her comm. "We might have a slight glitch; the human I was supposed to get left me. Should I return to base empty handed?"

Before she could get a reply, Arcee heard another voice speak instead. "Why got back alone? Take me instead."

Arcee looked back and saw the girl who had been watching her. Only one thing was on her processor at that moment. _'Scrap.'_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When he heard a car pull up into the driveway, Cory didn't think much of it, just probably the human woman coming back. She'd been back for several kliks earlier, before leaving again. The door was pulled up, and to his slight surprise, it wasn't the woman, but Jack instead. He glanced behind him, where Cory saw another vehicle, this one with a ridiculous flame design on it, and another human youth with him.

Jack narrowed his eyes, and his voice was low when he spoke. "Don't do anything, no matter how bad it could get. And don't talk either."

"You say something, Darby?" The other human questioned as he moved away from his vehicle and toward Cory and Jack.

Jack straightened up and shook his head. "What? No, of course not."

The other human approached him, and stared down at him with a scrutinizing expression. His lips thinned and he glanced at Jack. "Not bad," he said grudgingly, "how fast does this car go?"

"Pretty fast." Jack said faintly and Cory remembered the rough treatment he'd given the human.

"Really? Then pop the hood and let's see what kind of engine it's got." The other human said and reached for Cory's hood.

Jack stopped him though. "Uh, sure, just let me do it instead." He said chuckling. "This is still my car." He added and gently placed his hand on Cory's hood.

The Vehicon saw the nervousness on Jack's face, and felt the pleasant buzz he'd gotten from him the previous solar cycle. It had been very distracting then. He obligingly opened his hood for Jack and heard the other human whistle.

"Wow, that is some engine." He said, still sounding like it pained him to say these things. "So maybe it's not a piece of junk like I thought."

Cory felt his spark flare, anger coursing through him at the insult. He had to forcibly remind himself of Jack's order, and how detrimental it would be if he were to show this human why it would not be an ideal thing to insult him. The Autobots would no doubt be made aware of this, and this human wasn't worth the effort of alerting them of his presence.

Jack stepped in and smiled nervously. "Really? Then let's take a look at your car's engine."

The redheaded human huffed and turned on his heel, Jack following after him. The hood of the other vehicle was opened, and Jack peered in. "See? Pretty impressive, huh?"

Jack looked like he had no idea what to do, but he nodded along anyway. "Yeah, but motorcycles had been more of my thing."

"Then why'd you buy _that?"_ The redhead questioned and glanced at Cory.

"It was practically a steal." Jack replied and rubbed his arm. "And I, er, like the color." He said lamely.

The redhead snorted and closed the hood. "Alright Darby, so you ready to admit my car is better than yours?"

Jack's face flushed. "What? Is it not!" he retorted. "You saw the engine!"

"Do you even know what you're talking about?" The redhead retorted and crossed his arms smugly.

Jack's face went blank before he grumbled and looked away. "Well, what I _do_ know is that my car is still a nice-looking one. Though I will admit it's probably not as safe as yours."

Cory would have narrowed his optics if he'd had them. What was that supposed to mean? Oh, _right_, the whole incident from the previous solar cycle was still on Jack's mind most likely. He would have to work on getting him to trust him to actually get back into his seat.

The redheaded human snorted and made his way back into his vehicle. "There is really only one way to tell whose car is better, we gotta race sometime."

Jack blinked, his eyes glancing over at Cory and then back at the other human. "Sure, whatever," he said vaguely, "thanks for the ride." He said and walked into the garage, reaching up to pull the door down and looked at Cory once more. "Thanks for not saying anything."

"We should get more acquainted with each other, what do think of a drive later? Your creator can come with us too." Cory offered.

Jack blinked, his expressing going uneasy, and Cory could feel the energy spike the organic was giving off. He felt torn on the sudden urge to have the human touch him, and the disgust at wanting it at all. But he had to admit, the human was soft, and it felt nice, and… Cory wanted to smack himself for thinking of such things.

And the fact the human was talking and he wasn't paying attention.

"I don't know; the last experience wasn't really that comforting. And I don't even know how to drive; I was working on getting a license to drive a _motorcycle, _not a car." Jack explained.

"You won't need to do anything. You just need to _act_ like you're doing something." Cory replied. "I will react accordingly to your charade; you have nothing to worry about. What happened before was a misunderstanding; I had thought you were with the Autobot."

At the mention of Arcee, Jack's face darkened and his fists clenched, but his shoulders still shook as his breathing increased, making it difficult for Cory to distinguish if the organic was angry or upset; although both of Jack's reactions almost caused him to move toward him, to be closer to the human, and his enticing energy field.

_'No, stop thinking like that.'_ Cory chastised himself.

Jack seemed to have calmed himself enough to speak. "And you're sure nothing will happen to us?"

Cory needed a moment to think. This would be a tricky as he had to word it in a way that would not be held against him, as manipulative as what he was about to say was. After all, it wasn't _him_ that Jack and his organic creator needed to worry about now; but of course, Starscream still needed them as well. "_I_ will not harm either of you, I promise you that."

As he accepted the words at face value, Jack's heart hate evened out and he looked relieved. "Alright, I'll try and get my mom to let us go out."

* * *

Arcee felt a processor ache coming on, she had failed to bring back that dark-haired human, Jack as she'd heard he was called, and had to bring back this other human because of the rules. Would she have to go and try to get Jack a second time? She hadn't had any other order than to reinforce the rule of bring the human girl in too.

She'd only wanted time to herself, and now it spiralled out of control.

The girl hadn't been pleased with having to go with her on her alt-mode, but she'd told her that she just had to hold on. The girl still looked nonplussed even as they caught up with Bumblebee and the human boy he'd picked up, though Arcee ignored the incessant questions, she'd save the Q & A until they got to the base.

"Whoa!" The girl exclaimed as the cliff wall opened up and Arcee and Bumblebee drove into the base, the metal walls passing them by and the girl looked at Ratchet and Bulkhead in amazement before she got off her seat and made her way over to the green mech.

"I'm Raf." The young boy said.

"I'm Miko," The girl said, "who are you?"

"Bulkhead." The green mech replied.

"Are you a car? A truck? I bet your turn into a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? Ever use a wrecking ball? Or a punching bag?" Miko questioned nonstop.

"So, if you guys are robots, who made you?" Raf questioned.

Ratchet huffed. "_Puh-leeze_."

Heavy footsteps sounded the arrival of their leader, Optimus Prime, and got right into the explanations. "We are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron, also known as Autobots."

"Why are you here?" Raf asked.

"To protect your planet from the Decepticons." Optimus replied.

"The jokers who you saw last night." Arcee said.

Raf seemed to pale, but he nodded. "Um, okay, but why are _they_ here?"

Optimus knelt down to better speak with the humans. "A fair question, Rafael, they are here because our planet is uninhabitable; ravaged by centuries of civil war."

"Why were you fighting a war?" Raf questioned further.

"Foremost; over our world's supply of energon; the fuel and lifeblood of all Autobots _and_ Decepticons alike." Optimus explained. "The combat was fierce, and endured for centuries. In the beginning, I fought alongside one whom I considered a brother, but in war, ideals can be corrupted. And it was thus, that Megatron lost his way."

Miko let out a heavy sigh once Optimus was finished. "Is there gonna be a quiz?"

"So what is Megatron, or any of this…have to do with us?" Raf asked.

"Megatron has not been seen or heard from in some time, but if his return is imminent, as I fear, it could be catastrophic." Optimus said gravely.

* * *

After Jack had gone inside, muttering something about refueling before leaving, Cory had decided to give a report on how his mission was going. He was calling his order a 'mission' rather than what it really seemed like; 'babysitting' as the humans called it. He wouldn't have used human sayings, but he might as well learn to understand the organic if he was to stay around him.

_:Commander Starscream, I have acquired the human's trust to leave; we will be there later-:_

_:Stay away!:_ Starscream hissed over the comm. link, surprising Cory by the underlining panic. _:Keep the humans where they are, you are **not **allowed to return for the time being. If I see either of them here, it will be your helm!:_

Cory felt extremely bewildered by this sudden change of orders. _:Commander, you were the one who wanted them there as soon as possible. Has something happened?:_

_:It is not your place to ask questions, **drone**. Now stay away, and don't bring them here until I say otherwise!:_ Starscream snarled over the comm. link and the line went dead.

_'Drone?'_ Cory thought indignantly, but he knew there was no point in getting worked up over it. It would most likely end with his deactivation if he actually spoke back to the Commander's faceplate, if he wasn't useful anymore. Was that really what he was? Cannon fodder? Of course he was.

But what had caused such a reaction in the Commander? That was what he wanted to know, but now that Starscream's plans had apparently been forcefully put on hold, he would have to go without the answer for the moment.

* * *

After having got a bite to eat from the kitchen, and knowing his mother would try to get him to eat tofu for dinner, Jack thought about buying something at KO Burgers when his shift ended. He walked out of the house through the garage door and went over to his bike, before he remembered that he'd left it at school in his rush. _'Oh, this is just great.'_ He thought sarcastically.

"Our later drive is off." Cory said abruptly and Jack looked at him in disbelief.

"What? Why?" he asked and blinked.

Cory seemed to pause for a moment. "It would be too late, wouldn't it?" he reasoned logically. "It would be best to wait until later."

Though he was confused, Jack couldn't help but find some relief in the delay. The thought of getting back into Cory's driver seat freaked him out, and he was glad he wouldn't have too after all. "Well, that's fine with me." He said and redirected himself toward the front of the garage, and opened the door enough for him to slip under. "And remember, don't leave this place."

"Where else would I be going?" Cory questioned rhetorically and Jack nodded after a moment of thought.

"I guess." He said and closed the door behind him. As he ran down the sidewalk, Jack thought about how well he was taking this all. Granted, he'd been pretty much freaking out yesterday, and his nervous reactions had been hard to keep under control. It was especially hard to remember how Cory had been part of those Vehicons that tried to kill him and Raf, with how the Vehicon was action now.

But he supposed he was more confused now than anything; why would Starscream think that he'd need Cory anyway? He was pretty sure he wouldn't matter much to the Autobots, as he'd been told to forget about them. Then again, it wasn't like he was _objecting_ to forgetting about that Autobot he'd met.

It was funny in a disturbing way to think that before this happened he was telling his mother that he wasn't going to the school dance. Jack's eyes narrowed in thought; speaking of school, he had to think of what he was going to turn in for his science project. He tossed the idea around in his head to show how an engine worked, but that would require he actually know something about cars, and no doubt his science teacher would expect him to build one too. If nothing else came to him, he might just have to go for that idea.

As he reached his destination, Jack leaned against the wall and assumed he must have broken some kind of record for his speed to not be late for his shift. He pulled his cell phone out his pocket and speed dialed his mother's number and put it up to his phone. This was around the time she called to check up on him anyway, so she might be nearby. "Hello, could I speak with Nurse Darby?" he asked once he'd calmed himself enough to talk straight.

_"Yes, hold please."_ The person on the other line said.

The sound of the phone switching hands after several moments resounded in his ears, and June's voice was heard. _"Hello?"_

"Hey mom, it's Jack, I kinda left my bike at school today…and I'll need a lift after work. Could you swing by after you're done work? I'll even do a double shift here." Jack explained.

June sighed on the other end. _"Oh, Jack. I'll pick up your bike when I'm done, and then I can pick up some tofu dinner from down at the supermarket."_

Jack's eyes widened and he thought fast. "Um, that's alright, I can just take the car tomorrow to school and pick my bike up then."

"_No, you're still not taking the car out of the garage. I shouldn't have even let you drive it home without me."_ June said sternly. _"Who knows how safe it is."_

Jack could give his mother that much on her unsafe point, as Cory really was a giant, robot, death machine. "I guess so." He said. "I'll just pick it up at school tomorrow, _without_ driving the car. I'm going to walk." He said pre-emptively interrupting the point his mother was going to make about driving Cory around.

His mother sighed in relief. _"Alright then, I'll see later."_

"See ya." Jack replied and he heard the other line go dead before he hung up his cell phone. He put his phone away before he walked into the fast food restaurant and made his way into the back to punch in and stared down at the hat in his hands, grimacing as he placed it upon his head. _'Thank you for lax dress codes, at least._' He thought and walked to the window to take orders. He noticed a blonde girl from class, but he didn't know her name. "Hey, you're that girl from yesterday, Sierra's friend, right?"

The blonde looked up from the cash register, her expression set in annoyance once she saw who he was. "And you're that awkward kid from yesterday too." she retorted.

Jack flushed as he realized how rude he was being. "Uh, my name's Jack, but you probably already heard me say that."

"I did." The blonde said casting him an uninterested glance. "I'm Maggie. And to answer whatever question you say next, no; I will not help you hook up with my friend."

Jack's face reddened. "I wasn't going to say that." He mumbled.

Maggie crossed her arms as she look at him with disbelief. "Oh really? Then _what_ pray tell, were you going to ask me?"

"Well…" Jack trailed off and he had the decency to look sheepish at having been caught. Then he realized she was wearing the same hat as he was. "You work here now too?"

Maggie snorted. "_Smooth_." She said sarcastically. The harsh glare she was giving him lessened a fraction as she glanced down at the register. "Yeah, the 'rents say I gotta learn some responsibilities."

"Really? My mom said the same thing." Jack said. "And you choose this place?"

"Well it's really the only place that's gonna hire teenagers, now isn't it?" Maggie snapped and her shoulders sagged. "This job is seriously going to cut down on my band time."

"You're in a band?" Jack asked surprised.

Maggie glared at him again. "Yeah, wanna make something out of it?" she asked harshly.

Jack reeled back, holding his hands up to show he meant no harm. "No, I was just asking."

"Oh, since I saw you with Vince earlier I thought you were his friend now or something." Maggie said and Jack blinked.

"What gave you that idea?" Jack questioned. "He only gave me a ride home because I said I'd show him my car."

Maggie raised a brow. "I saw you two arguing, but he gave you a ride home?"

"Just to see my car!" Jack said hastily and for once he wanted a customer to come up to the stand. Clearly, going into this subject was a bad idea, if it gave _Maggie_ ideas. "And we're hardly _friends_."

Maggie looked at him closely, her eyes narrowed in thought before she huffed and pulled back. "Yeah, I can see why he'd want to hang out with you," she said rolling her eyes, "'cause you're squeaky clean image would be so good for him." she laughed.

"At least I don't get detention every day." Jack shot back.

"So? Detention still gets me _attention_." Maggie retorted. "Even when you saw me, you still knew who I was, didn't you?"

Jack didn't reply, because really, she had him on that. Maybe it was a good idea to wait; he didn't think he could spend another moment with this girl. _'Maybe I could just ask Sierra out myself, since I doubt Maggie would put in a good word for me._'


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Wow, sweet ride, who knew parents could be cool?" Maggie questioned after the green car drove off. She had been feeling embarrassed about her job at KO Burger, and had waited for the taunts like she'd heard people give Jack. So far there had been nothing, but she was ready if they tried, though her mood had brightened when she saw who got out of the car.

Miko looked over her shoulder at her, her expression growing excited. "Yeah, it's totally awesome! Not a monster truck, but still pretty cool!" she exclaimed.

Maggie grinned slightly. "I don't think 'rents could handle _that."_ She chuckled and saw down the side walk a yellow car letting out the school's kid genius. "Why can't _my_ parents trade in their car for something cool, everyone it seems is doing it."

Miko glanced back at where Maggie was looking, and she waved dismissively. "Oh, not everyone. This wouldn't be boring Jasper, Nevada if they did." She said and looked past Maggie to the top of the stairs, where that Arcee was supposed to have picked up originally was. He looked like he was about to be sick, but the students around them were complaining about their phones not working.

Maggie raised a brow when she saw where Miko was looking and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Hey, Jack; is having to smell like burgers starting to make you puke?"

Jack whipped his head in Maggie's direction, his eyes going wide for a moment, before he narrowed his eyes and the complaints calmed down. "I don't know, you tell me?" he shot back and Maggie sneered at him.

"As much fun as it would be to watch you talk smack to each other, teacher alert." Miko said pointing to the adult walking down the sidewalk.

"Damn it; and I didn't even do anything this time." Maggie muttered and pulled Miko with her toward the school, giving Jack a glare as she passed him and he returned it.

"You two don't like each other or something?" Miko questioned.

"Or something." Maggie said dryly.

* * *

When Jack had slipped out the front door that morning, he'd hoped Cory would remain the only alien robot he'd see, but when he got to school and checked to make sure his bike was still there, he got a nasty surprise when he was about to go into the school. From the top of the steps, he saw a green car that looked like that one robot from a few days ago, and that transfer student got out of its cabin. He'd felt the tight clamp he had over his emotions start to lessen as the anxiety took over.

He'd ignored the murmuring complaints of weird cell coverage as he saw that transfer student talking to Maggie, but he'd felt sick to his stomach when that yellow car pulled up further ahead and Raf got out. Just what was happening here? That blue motorcycle had warned him that they didn't exist, and yet here the Autobots were.

For a moment he regretted not bringing Cory, but that would no doubt be worse for this situation. From what he could gather, Cory's group and the Autobots were enemies; if the reaction Starscream and Cory had to merely _thinking _he was associated with them was any indication. He'd heard Maggie's taunt, and for a moment it startled him, but then had had snapped back with a scathing remark as well.

Jack glared at her as she walked past him into the school with the transfer student who he still didn't know that name of, but now it seemed like she and Raf were with the Autobots. Was there something else going on here that he wasn't seeing? Jack clenched his fists as he thought about that motorcycle trying to talk to him again and he went inside.

He walked down the hall to his locker, but he noticed Sierra walking down the opposite side. He felt a blush rise in his face, control momentarily forgotten and the lights flickered overhead. Jack quickly snapped out of it and opened his locker, peering around the edge as Sierra got closer. She was immersed in her cell phone, so she probably didn't notice he was there.

Jack bit his lip to keep calm even as he felt his heart speed up and he turned around. "Um, hi, Sierra."

The redhead stopped and looked at him, her brows furrowing before she seemed to recognize him. "You're that guy with the motorcycle."

Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I kinda traded it in for a car."

Sierra's interest looked piqued. "Really; what kind of car is it?"

"He-_it_ is a black and purple car, with a, uh, really good engine-I think." Jack explained clumsily.

"Wow, black and purple car with a nice engine, that's a very good trade up." Sierra said dryly. "You don't know much about cars, do you?"

"Yeah, I do." Jack replied.

"Oh really, then what's the make?" Sierra questioned.

"Vehicon, er," Jack answered, and he had done it by forgetting that wasn't what Sierra had meant, "I mean, that's a car model, right?"

Sierra raised a brow, but she looked almost amused by his cluelessness. "No, that's not one." She said crossing her arms, her cell phone hanging languidly from her hand.

Jack flushed from having her attention on him at that moment. This was what he wanted, and it felt a bit surreal. "Maybe I could show you my car, and let you judge it for yourself."

"Me, go home with you?" Sierra questioned and scoffed. "Not a chance, bring your car here and we'll see if it gets past that." She said and walked off.

Jack stood frozen in place as he repeated in his mind what Sierra had said and he couldn't stop smiling as he turned back to his locker. _'I can't believe it, I think I just got a date!_' he thought, but had to remind himself that if he wanted an actual date, he would have to bring Cory to school. Jack knew bringing Cory to school would be an incredibly stupid idea, but perhaps he could swing it so Cory would only have to be there for a few minutes.

As Jack closed his locker after retrieving his books, he knew he was breaking the rules his mother gave him, but he really wanted that date.

* * *

Sierra saw Jack glance back at her, a slight blush on his face before he looked back at the front of the class. She heard Maggie hiss in a low tone and she looked at her. "What's with you?"

"I can't tell if he's going to ask me for advice, or ask you out. Either way, there's no chance." Maggie replied and narrowed her eyes.

Sierra raised a brow. "Since when did you become the one who chooses whose good enough?" she questioned quietly so they wouldn't get caught by the teacher. "You're pickier than I am." She added and shook her head slightly. "And I don't know; there might be something there under that awkward meeting we had."

"He was talking to a motorcycle, which does not speak well for his sanity." Maggie replied.

"He said he traded up for a car, which I said I _might_ consider going out with him." Sierra said. "If the car is something I want to be seen in, that is." She continued quickly.

"That would still mean you'd be seen with Jack." Maggie retorted logically. "And does the cheer captain really wanna be seen with someone who works at KO Burger?"

"_You_ work there; I was with you when you applied." Sierra said flatly and Maggie flushed.

"Touché." She muttered. "But I digress, from someone who now bears the shame of working there, you could do better."

Sierra narrowed her eyes slightly. As much as she liked Maggie, this overprotectiveness was a bit stifling. "Thanks, but I think I can choose who I want to date. And besides, my dad will no doubt scare him."

Maggie smirked lightly.

* * *

Cory had been going over in his processor what the Commander could possibly want to keep from a 'simple drone' like him, but then again, with that same mindset Starscream had about him, it was probably the humans he was worried about being discovered. But why would this bother him? There must be something big going on if he was being told to keep them away; he just didn't know the _what_.

He was brought out of his thoughts when the door to the garage was pulled up and Jack stood in there, his expression nervous. "I can't believe I'm about to do something so stupid." He muttered.

Cory was immediately on alert. "What are you going to do?"

Jack flushed suddenly as he pushed his bike to the side. "I need you to take me to the school; I want to show you to a girl I like."

"Is this the same thing like what you did the previous day?" Cory asked.

"Uh, sorta. I just want to prove that I have a nice car, so we can go out on a date." Jack replied.

"Me and you?" Cory asked confused.

Jack's face went redder and he shook his head. "_No_, I mean me and girl I like. You'd be the car we'd drive there in." he explained.

"So I am your…_cabbie?_ That is the right word, correct?" Cory questioned; his voice neutral.

"Well, it wouldn't be for everyone." Jack promised. "Just the first one, I'd like to make a good impression. My first one didn't exactly go over well."

"You are aware that if I went out, there would be a chance that the Autobots could be alerted to my presence, correct?" Cory asked.

Jack nodded and his expression turned guilty. "I knew it's stupid, but I thought there would be a way for you to pull it off."

"Could you not just take some kind of picture? Or do you really want us to go for a drive?" Cory inquired.

Jack froze, but he took his phone out of his pocket. "Uh, yeah, I knew about the picture thing." He said nervously and took a photo of Cory. "I just hope this will convince Sierra I wasn't lying about you."

"Perhaps we are more attuned than you realize." Cory said cryptically.

Jack furrowed his brow, but shook his head as he absently patted Cory on the hood. He jumped back when the Vehicon suddenly started shaking and looked out to make sure no one had seen that. "You're not going to transform _here and now_ are you?"

"Of course not." Cory replied in a strained tone. "You just…startled me."

Jack looked at him dubiously, but didn't question it as he went back to his bike. "I'd better get back to school; my lunch time is going to be over soon." He said and went outside, pulling the door down behind him.

Cory had been given a reminder of something he'd been neglecting as now that he was put on this duty for an undetermined amount of time, he had to conserve the energon he'd been allowed to take with him. Perhaps when Jack returned from his education center he would pour some of the energon into his gas tank, as it was too small for him to transform, and with the Autobot threat still out there, he couldn't leave the garage for now.

He'd been using the space around him to dampen his signal so the Autobots would not find him here, and leaving would put this mission in jeopardy.

This talk of a 'date' would be a problem, but now that he knew it involved leaving, perhaps he could find a way to keep his signal down if he was forced to be a cabbie for Jack.

* * *

Jack felt the pangs of embarrassment still holding strong, even though Cory most likely didn't know about that Jack was lying to him. To have such an obvious plan escape him…his flush deepened until he arrived at the school, his stomach growling. He would eat first, and _then_ he would show Sierra the photo. He couldn't afford to get distracted if he was hungry.

He put his bike on the rack and hurried up the steps and ran toward the cafeteria. He could use a little of his saved money to buy something small, just enough for him to last the rest of the day. He bought an apple and a bottle of water, and he sat down at one of the free tables near the back. He took a bite out of the fruit as he scanned the cafeteria to find Sierra; he knew there was a chance she wouldn't be there to begin with, but he had to make sure.

Jack found her sitting with Maggie and that exchange student, who he _still_ didn't know the name of. He got up from his seat after he finished his apple and tossed it into the nearby garbage before he took a drink of water to calm his nerves. It wouldn't be good for someone who associated with the Autobots too think it was strange that the lights were funny when he was nervous.

He calmly walked over, making sure his emotions were kept tightly under watch. "Hi, Sierra." He said and the redhead looked back at him. He ignored the strange look the exchange student gave him, and the glare Maggie was giving him. "I know it's not exactly the same thing, but my mom wasn't exactly too keen on my bringing the car to school." He said and held up the picture of Cory on his cell phone.

Sierra narrowed her eyes as she took the phone and examined the picture. "Hmm, it _is_ a nice-looking car," she admitted, "is it new?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Jack replied.

Sierra showed the photo to Maggie and the dark-haired girl beside her. "What do you think?"

Maggie stared for a moment as she and the transfer student exchanged a glance and both rolled their eyes. "It's such a small car; the ride Miko's host parents got is _way_ cooler." She said scathingly. "You sure you really wanna be seen in that car?"

Jack crossed his arms as he glared at the blonde. "Thank you for your encouraging opinion." He said flatly.

"I _said_ I wouldn't help you with my friend." Maggie retorted as she glared back at Jack.

Sierra glanced between them and rolled her eyes. She handed Jack the cell phone back. "We'll take about that date after school, you have 15 minutes to convince me before cheer practice."

Jack's face lit up, and for one moment, the lights above flickered before he could stop it. "Really? That's terrific. You won't regret it, I swear!" he said and made his way back to his table, his step lighter than before.

* * *

"What?" Sierra asked once Jack had left.

Maggie kept her eyes narrowed. "You know very well _what_." She huffed.

Miko looked between them, having been given a very strange insight to the relationship that existed between Maggie and Sierra. From what she got in their conversations, she had assumed these two were nothing alike. Maggie was more like her, in a more…vicious way, but she liked that. She didn't like Sierra that much, and the reason she'd sat at the table in the first place was because Maggie had invited her over. "You know, there are probably a million things better than to talk about Jack's lame car."

Maggie grinned at her, looking glad she had taken her side. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

"Well not everyone thinks things like monster trucks are cool." Sierra said crossing her arms. "Even if it _is_ Jack, I'd still go in that car."

Maggie huffed and went back to eating her lunch.

"How are you two friends?" Miko questioned.

Sierra glared at her, but Maggie just shrugged. "It just happened." The blonde said flippantly.

* * *

When the end of the day rolled around, Jack had a hard time as he stomach the sights of Miko and Raf leaving with those two Autobots. It just made him feel uncomfortable, that the blue motorcycle might show up again. He didn't see her in the parking space, or by the bike rack, so he was safe for the moment. He just had to convince Sierra, and then he could take off.

Jack made his way down the steps when he heard an engine coming down the street, and he was glad he was away from anything that could give him away as his emotions were slipping out of his control. He saw the blue Autobot roll up to the sidewalk, with a rider on it, and for a moment he wondered if someone else had found out about them. The thought was unnecessary as the rider disappeared. Jack looked around to see if anyone else had seen that.

"Hey, get over here." The Autobot said and Jack gulped quietly as he made his way over.

He had no intention of going with her, but maybe he could try to keep her away. If he wasn't, he might have to get Cory involved with this. "I'm keeping quiet; you don't have to bug me."

"Listen, you think I wanna be here either? I don't, so just make this easier and come with me." The Autobot replied.

Jack grimaced at the way she worded it. It sounded too much like a threat for his own comfort. "No, I don't want anything to do with this. You don't have to worry, I won't say anything, I swear!"

"I can't count on that, you could still talk." The Autobot said. "And my orders were to bring you in."

"Did that motorcycle just talk?"

Jack looked up startled as he saw Sierra had been walking over and he cursed himself for being more attentive. His thoughts were still on the threatening words and he didn't want Sierra to get hurt, so he walked over to the redhead and started ushering her toward the back of the school, where her cheer practice was being held. "No, I didn't hear anything." He said nervously.

Sierra looked at him nervously as she wrenched her arm from his hand and looked more closely at the motorcycle. "That's the motorcycle you traded for, isn't it?" she asked in recognition. "When those two crazy car drivers came at us!"

Jack tensed up. "Yeah, it is, someone else must have bought it. I wouldn't wanna make them mad, so why don't we just walk away?"

Sierra furrowed her brow. "What's with you? You were totally into this bike when I saw you with it, what happened?"

Jack's features darkened. "It wasn't what I thought." He said calmly and saw a flame-colored car started to drive by. He didn't want to walk to school again, but he would do almost anything to get away from this bike. "Vince! Hey, Vince!"

Vince stopped his car and it screeched at the sudden halt. He looked out his window, his expression annoyed, growing even more so when he saw who had called him. "What do you want, Darby?"

"How about another ride home?" Jack called.

Vince scowled at him. "I gave you one yesterday, why don't you bring that_ awesome_ car of yours so you don't ask me!" he said sarcastically.

Jack wandered over, trying desperately to keep his even as even as possible. "Please, I'll even let you take it for a spin." He said, though that would take a lot of convincing Cory to go through with it.

Try as he may, some of that desperation still slipped out. He glanced from Jack over to Sierra, his brow furrowing before he sighed in disdain. "Fine, but this car better be worth it." He said and Jack nodded, rushing over to the passenger seat.

He felt bad about leaving Sierra, but hopefully she hadn't heard much, and would leave soon on her own accord.

Sierra watched Jack leave, shaking her head as she thought about the fact he'd spent his time trying to get her to leave. And she thought _she_ sent mixed signals. The redhead glanced down at the motorcycle suspiciously. "I _know_ I heard something." She muttered and walked to the track field where practice was taking place.

Arcee felt her frustration mounting as she was now responsible for getting caught _three_ times, and all because she'd had that Darby with her. She'd better not have gotten a fourth time. But perhaps after this, Optimus would consider sending someone else out to get the human boy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

When Jack returned, it was like the previous day, he even had the redhead with him too. Cory suspected that Jack had done something, as this was the second time in a row he'd come back with some other transportation than his bike. And just like the previous day, Jack came up to him looking anxious. Cory felt the energy field around him flare and he desperately wanted to be touched, to feel that wonderful sensation of not only self-realization, but the strangest sense of pleasure too.

_'No, you have to stop thinking like this, the Commander won't like it.'_ Cory thought as he focused on what the organic was going to ask him; because he _would_ ask him something if he looked this nervous.

"Cory." Jack started and his voice was low as not to alert the other human. "I know this is a _bit_ much, but I promised Vince that he could drive you around. Not for long though."

"It is much." Cory replied just as quietly, but they both could discern the menace behind it.

"I know, I know." Jack replied, looking contrite. "But I couldn't get away fast enough, that blue Autobot was there and-"

"Arcee, she was there?" Cory interrupted. This changed things; the Autobots were clearly trying to get Jack for some reason. He reasoned that since they couldn't know about his strange condition and that no one had been around to scout out the place to look for the Allspark, it was safe to presume a possible liability was the only answer.

The Commander had told them how to deal with liabilities, but the Autobots were too soft-sparked to go through with permanent means of silence. It was the reason Starscream said their numbers were dwindling.

_'And yet **we're** the ones still being used as cannon fodder, so what could he know?'_ Cory thought snidely. "What else have you been keeping from me?"

"Look, I don't have to tell you _everything_, you're not my mom." Jack retorted.

With how Cory was starting to think of the human, that really was a good thing. "Which I am grateful for." He deadpanned. "One drive, and if you don't throw the human out after fifteen of your earth minutes, _I will."_

Jack nodded and stepped back from him. "I was just checking the hood, it's all clear." He said chuckling.

The redhead narrowed his eyes. "Were you talking to your car?" he asked and Cory resisted tensing up.

"Don't you?" Jack shot back.

The redhead paused and grumbled under his breath. "Whatever, Darby; now let's see what horse power this car's got going for it." He said and got into Cory's cabin, with Jack taking the passenger side. He made a small hologram of keys to pretend that it was needed to start him and Jack put the 'keys' into the ignition.

Cory wanted to toss the redheaded human out now, as he thought Jack owing a favor was a stupid habit to get into. But then again, that habit could come in handy, as Jack didn't seem like he was quite aware of the habit he was developing. He made the redhead think he was in control as he started his own engine up and adjusted himself according to the whims of the human.

Though that didn't mean he didn't have some fun of his own with this.

"Geez, Darby, can these seatbelts get any tighter?" The redhead asked caustically as he 'drove' Cory down the street.

Jack looked at him through the steering wheel, his expression disapproving, but he didn't care at that moment as he watched Jack's hands touch his seatbelt. "I don't know what you mean, mine's just fine." He said calmly, but his energy field was nervous.

The tingly sensation made him swerve sharply around the road and his focus went back to the street and keeping his signal dampened. His own foolishness could have just given away his position!

"No wonder you got this for a steal, this really _is_ a junk car!" The redhead shouted and Cory felt his temper flare, but Jack's grip on his seatbelt tightened and the angry look on his face made him feel satisfied for another reason.

"No it's _not._" Jack retorted. "It's got a questionable history, sure, but it's not _junk_."

"Here I thought _I_ was defensive about my car." The redhead said scathingly. "If you love her so much, why don't you marry her?" he asked sarcastically.

"Him," Jack corrected immediately and his face started to turn a reddish hue, "I've decided that it's a he, not a she."

The redhead stared Jack for such a long time, that Cory wondered if he was going to have to crash into a trash can to get his attention back. He quickly vetoed the idea as it would not only hurt Jack and risk bringing Starscream's wrath upon him, but this redhead wasn't worth the effort. He seemed sufficiently distracted enough that he wouldn't notice Cory driving on his own.

"Oh really now, any particular reason for that?" he questioned.

Jack shook his head. "No, and keep your eyes on the road, my mom's going to kill me anyway if she finds out about this, and I don't want the last thing I do to is pay an installment." He said dryly.

"Maybe you're not such a Momma's boy after all, Darby." The redhead retorted and Jack scowled at him briefly, but didn't make any comment on it. "Why did you want a ride back anyway?"

"Why are you _asking?"_ Jack shot back.

"It's not every day someone runs away from the cheer captain." The redhead said. "You seemed pretty desperate to get away from her."

Jack blinked at this, and he laughed nervously and Cory braced himself for the moment when Jack's hands would come in contact with him. "You thought I was running _away_ from her? Why would I do that?"

"You tell me, Darby, _you_ were the one who asked me for a ride after all." The redhead replied.

"It was that motorcycle, someone else bought it I guess and it just sorta freaked me out." Jack said and seemed to be carefully editing his words. "I was kind of thinking of wanting it for myself, and to know that it already _had_ an owner…" he trailed off.

The redhead chuckled darkly. "You thought the owner would catch you, didn't you? I knew no one could turn down the cheerleader." He said bitterly.

Jack glanced at him surprised, but changed the topic. "I'm pretty sure the owner already did catch me, which would be why I went with you yesterday."

The redhead grinned slightly. "So you were _trying _to steal it then?"

Jack flushed. "Well, no, but…it looked like that?" he asked and the other human nodded. "I'm not a delinquent like Maggie, I don't do stuff like that or hack into the school's computers and change my grades."

"She tried to give herself straight A's, no wonder she got caught." The redhead said loftily.

Cory found this conversation to be slightly interesting, but what did he care for the working of youngling minds? _He_ had never been one, so it held no importance to him. Instead he just started to get impatient and checked his chronometer to see how much longer he needed to wait before he ousted the redhead from his driver seat. _'Only 6 minutes to go, then bye-bye human._' He thought.

Cory felt the ping of his comm. link going off and he answered, but before he could greet his Commander, Starscream rudely cut him off. _:Drone, bring whichever human you have with you here, **now**.:_

_:I thought I was supposed to stay away?:_ Cory questioned.

Starscream hissed over the line. _:That doesn't matter at this moment! Do not question me, just bring one of those humans back to the ship!:_ he sent the co-ordinates to Cory and he found that the Nemesis wasn't that far away.

Cory didn't have time to reply to these abrupt orders as just as quickly as he called, the Commander disconnected the comm. He briefly went over in his processor the situation to make sense of what had just happened. Clearly that 'big thing' that was going on had given Starscream enough time to order him to bring in one of the humans, the fact he hadn't specified _which_ one meant that the window of opportunity to study the organics must be very small.

Try as he may, Cory still couldn't make sense of his Commander's bizarre mood swing and it hurt to try and understand _that_, so he decided to just go with it for the time being. This also meant that he could get rid of the redhead earlier than he planned too.

"Whoa!" The human shouted surprised as Cory jerked his seat to make him uncomfortable. "What _else_ is wrong with your weirdo car?!"

Jack looked alarmed. "I don't know, but maybe you shouldn't say such nasty things about him."

The redhead laughed, but there was something uneasy about it. "Is this like _Christine?_" he seemed to be pale as he stared down at the steering wheel. "Did the previous owner have an _accident_ in here?"

Jack blinked as he seemed bewildered by the sudden change in the redhead's demeanour. "Uh, none that I can think of." He answered. "Maybe I should stop the car."

"Right," The redhead muttered and reached for the 'keys', but Jack beat him to it and their hands brushed, though neither noticed or cared at the moment. "If your car suddenly starts going on a rampage and running people down, I called it first." He said and exited the car.

Jack saw him walking toward his own car in the rear-view mirror and chuckled in relief as he ran a hand through his hair. His laughs died down as he stared down at the steering wheel. "What was _that_ about?"

Cory knew he had to do this carefully. If he came right out and said where they were going, then Jack would be highly resistant, and Starscream would be even more annoyed. "We're taking that drive, is there a problem?"

"Yeah there's a problem, Vince probably thinks I'm weirder than he already does now!" Jack retorted.

"How is it _my_ fault? He would not think that if there wasn't already some reason to see you that way." Cory replied logically.

Jack's face turned a deeper shade of red than before and he leaned back into the passenger seat. "Fine, but like I told Vince, I don't want the last thing I do is telling my mom why I was breaking her rules."

As when Jack's mother had come back during the solar cycle, Cory had not noticed any conscious difference in the readings, so the thought of what she could do had not really entered his processor. "Would she really kill you?" he asked, as that would really jeopardize Starscream's orders.

Jack shook his head. "No, she'd just ground me until I'm thirty."

"I can work with that." Cory replied and Jack looked at him strangely. He didn't continue as he started to drive off, and though Jack looked tense, he didn't say anything about it.

In fact, taking into account how he freaked out previously, Cory thought he was doing quite well. Sure, the human started to get edgy when he made a turn onto the desert, but he really didn't begin to get anxious until they headed to a valley.

"Where are going? You said this was just a drive." Jack said accusingly.

"It is." Cory reassured him, "We are going to the Nemesis."

Jack paled and stared down at him incredulously. _"What_? I know that Arcee showing up at my school was a bad thing, but isn't this a bit of an overreaction? You didn't have to _kidnap _me again!"

"Given your last encounter on the ship, it seemed wiser not to mention it." Cory said and Jack groaned in frustration. "And is not kidnapping, I _told_ you we were going for a drive."

"But _still_." Jack retorted.

"Would you have come with me otherwise?" Cory questioned.

Jack scowled at him, and he abruptly changed the subject. "If I try to call for help, are you gonna crush my mom's phone like you did mine?"

"That was an accident; you should not have tried in the first place." Cory retorted.

"Yeah, well thanks your _accident_, I have to use my mom's cell until I can buy myself a new one." Jack replied sullenly.

"I do not see what's so bad about that." Cory replied.

"She already thinks something's up 'cause she doesn't believe the whole 'it got thrown out the window' excuse." Jack said.

"Well I'd think there'd be something wrong if she did." Cory said dryly.

Jack rolled his eyes, but once he caught sight of the Nemesis over the edge of the cliff where Cory stopped, he gulped. "Nothing bad is going to happen, right? You did promise."

"Nothing bad will happen to you." Cory said reassuringly. _'You're an anomaly, but I doubt he'd be thrilled to know that._' He thought, and decided that the Commander could tell him about all this science stuff. He spotted several other Vehicons and sent a quick comm. call that he had returned with one of the humans the Commander wanted.

Jack looked at him funny as he opened his door. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, if I transform with you in there, you'll go splat." Cory replied.

Jack paled and scrambled out of his seat and onto the desert sand. "Is there any way for me _not_ to go splat?" he questioned.

"It would be different if I had some extra space to carry you down in a compartment, but I don't." Cory explained. "I'm not tall or large enough to have one." He said and begun to scale the side of the cliff and once he had a solid footing, he picked Jack up, who lurched, his expression frightened. "I will not drop you, just don't look down." He said setting Jack onto one of the ridges until he could find another grip.

"Oh, believe me, I won't." Jack muttered.

They continued to make their way down the cliff until Cory reached the bottom and held Jack firmly in his grasp. He walked past the sentries, who nodded at him and he nodded back as he made his way onto the Nemesis.

"So where are we going then?" Jack asked.

"Starscream wishes to see you; he will explain the situation in further detail." Cory said.

Jack grimaced as he thought of the silver robot; it certainly hadn't been the greatest first impression.

* * *

Starscream waited impatiently for the Vehicon to bring him one of the humans. He had called off the orders earlier because he couldn't very well let Megatron know about this, and he had made sure that blasted Soundwave couldn't tell him about the human boy's capture. He knew the spy likely suspected there was a deeper reason for letting him go with a Vehicon to guard him, and it had something to do with his blood.

Now that Megatron had left and he'd gotten Soundwave to increase surveillance to await the arrival of the drone and the human he brought, he was left feeling irritated. What was _taking_ so long? Surely didn't take long to snatch one of the humans up and bring them here? He'd made the co-ordinates so painfully simple that even a youngling could follow them.

_:Commander Starscream, we have arrived at the Nemesis, where would you like us to go?:_ The drone commed.

_:Go to the lab, I am already here:_ Starscream replied annoyed. :_Which of the humans did you bring?:_

_:The human boy from before, I found out his designation is Jack:_ The drone answered.

Starscream was disappointed; he'd wanted to see the female organic with the stronger Allspark readings, but this boy had already been in contact with the Autobots, and he most certainly seemed to distrust them. All Starscream had to do was seem better than them by _comparison_ and the human should be more willing, though he would have to ease these tests along. But for now, he decided that he could move onto the bigger prize later and work with what he had at the moment.

This human boy still had the readings of the Allspark after all, he just needed to find out _how_ he got this way.

_:Hurry up, time is of the essence:_ Starscream replied as he was unsure of how long Megatron would be gone for. He cut the call and went over to the counter where he had prepared all that would be needed. A scanner for the deeper readings, a syringe for another blood sample, and a slide for what the humans called their 'DNA' to see how attached the energy was. He wouldn't have time for more thorough tests, and going through these alone would take some time.

The door slid open and he saw the Vehicon brush the human's hair, which caused the human to turn red and pushed his servo away, but Starscream's optics caught the spark that leap from the human's fingers onto the drone's plating.

He decided that _touching _the organic was out of the question until he discovered what this development was.

He also took notice how the drone shuddered and continued to prod the organic.

"Set him down here." Starscream said pointing at the counter, his tone annoyed.

The Vehicon gently put the human down. "Any other orders, sir?"

Starscream narrowed his optics, before he looked somewhat less irritated at the human boy. "You stay put, I must do a quick examination of your guard-to make sure he is still in condition to continue your protection of course." He said smoothly and looked back at the drone. "Open your chest plates." He ordered. "I must make sure your circuits haven't fried." He added, as there must be some kind of glitch for the drone to touch the organic in such an unprofessional manner.

The Vehicon seemed hesitant before he eventually opened his plates, revealing the wiring inside. The glow that emitted behind the glass was _not_ something Starscream expected to see though and it stunned the seeker momentarily. Vehicons and Eradicons were mass produced when needed because they required no other work than just a body and the basic mechanisms for a slight personality and following orders.

They were machines, with no real sense of self-awareness. Machines and tools, which was why this could _not_ be happening, it just wasn't possible.

But the proof was right in front of his optics, and he could see the human boy craning his neck to look at the glow. "Close your plates!" he snapped and the Vehicon shut his chest plates quickly. He looked down at the human boy, trying to maintain a calm expression, but it still felt strained with this unexpected surprise. "Tell me, do you know what the difference between me and this drone is?"

The organic's face became indignant. "His name is Cory." He said reproachfully. "And yes, it's because he's cannon fodder, isn't it?"

Starscream smirked. "Quite right." He said and ignored the bit about how the Vehicon let the human name him. "As such, he shouldn't have a spark, the very thing that sets me apart him." his expression cracked a bit. "But…he _does_, and that shouldn't have happened. So I ask you," he said and approached the human slowly, "what have you both been _doing?"_

* * *

Arcee was quite angry, at herself and the world; her request that someone else retrieve the human boy had been granted, but only _after_ she explained how she had been found out by yet another human, but even though Optimus hadn't sounded disappointed or angry with her; his calm voice only served to agitate Arcee further.

Especially with her current record of how many humans she'd exposed them too, and all because of the one she was _supposed_ to have gotten.

Thinking of Jack, or Darby-_or whatever his name was _-brought a strange feeling about her. It wasn't unpleasant, and that was why she didn't like it. She'd been too busy keeping him alive when the 'Cons attacked the first time, and Miko had made her forget about the tingling sensation when she found her. It was strange, why was that human making her act this way?

It was best to stay as far as she could from him, then perhaps this lapse in judgement would go away too. Some part of her hoped whoever was sent in her place would _fail_ so she didn't have to spent any time around him, but she felt guilty for thinking such a thing; if the Decepticons got him, then Optimus would be upset they hadn't been doing their 'job' properly to protect the humans.

She just didn't know why _this_ human was being so difficult.

Arcee was brought of her thoughts when she saw the human girl she had to bring to the base leaving the school. She debated how to go about this, but as there was no one around at the moment, she thought that it would be quicker to just be direct. "Hey, you."

The redhead looked around, but then her eyes landed on Arcee, her expression wary as she approached. "Oh boy, I _must_ be going crazy if I'm hearing things."

"Believe me, it'd be a lot easier to get away with if you were." Arcee retorted.

The redhead's eyes snapped wide open and she staggered back. "You…you _can_ talk." She said sounding both awed and disbelieving. "Then that means that Jack…he _was_ talking to you."

"Is that his first or last name?" Arcee questioned sharply.

"His first name." The redhead said breathlessly and realization seemed to dawn on her. "Was he the reason you were here earlier?"

"Yes, now if you would just come with me-" Arcee started, but the redhead cut her off abruptly.

"Go with you? Jack freaked out because of you, I'm not going _anywhere_ with you." She said firmly.

Arcee sighed impatiently. "You saw those cars, which tried to run him down, right?" she asked the girl nodded tentatively. "Those weren't cars, they are like me, sorta, and if they found out about you…they could use you."

The girl paled and glared at her. "So my life is over because of you?"

"You can gripe and moan _after_ this is sorted out, now are you coming with me, or not?" Arcee repeated.

The redhead's lips pursed, and after a tense moment, she looked defeated. "Alright, but if I'm not back at home by 10, my dad's gonna flip out." She said and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

Arcee popped the trunk to reveal a helmet. "For safety." She said dully.

The girl took the helmet out, though she still looked wary. "What's going to happen to Jack?"

"Someone else goes to get him." Arcee replied curtly.

The redhead got onto the seat and she held on tightly to the handlebars as Arcee took off down the street.

* * *

Jack could admit he'd felt flustered under Cory's wandering fingers, as the insistence behind the poking felt like he had been _waiting_ to do it. When he ran his finger over his hair as they'd gone into the lab, Jack had pushed him away as he didn't want Starscream to see, but Cory just kept on prodding him until Starscream told him to set him down.

He'd been upset when the silver bot called Cory a drone, even though he _was_ one, but it still made him angry. Then the bombshell came.

"What we've been _doing?"_ Jack repeated and flushed as he thought of the dirtier implications of the question. "We haven't done anything really, just took a drive."

Starscream's eyes narrowed at him slightly before he gestured to Cory. "Well when he was here, he certainly _didn't_ have a spark." He said and put his hands behind his back. "I must know now, has anything _strange_ happened?"

Jack's mind went to his techbane power, but he'd been nervous around Cory and nothing ever happened. Or had it? He thought of how he'd touched Cory's hood and the reaction it had; could he have been doing that? It didn't make sense though, why would he glitch appliances and grow sparks in giant alien robots? "Why do you want to know?"

"After our…altercation the last time, I took a look at the blood I took from you, and it had the most unusual readings." Starscream said and had Jack's attention not been riveted on this information, he would have snorted. It was a little more than an _altercation_. "It was a while before I could fully process what the readings were, and once I had, I thought it better to tell the drone to bring you back."

Jack narrowed his eyes; that was it? "You didn't have to tell Cory to kidnap me, if you _explained_ what was going on, I might have come willingly."

"Kidnap you? The drone did that on his own." Starscream said dismissively. "But if you want directness, I can do that." He said and for a split second, he seemed to grin, as if he found this amusing. "What I discovered in your blood was also the reason you were immune to the energon shock. It didn't affect you because you were _absorbing_ it."

Jack stared up at him in disbelief. "Are you saying I'm some kind of battery?"

Starscream nodded sharply. "The sample also showed Allspark radiation, which is the life-giver of our species." He explained.

One word stuck out in Jack's mind as processed such a short sentence that also held a lot of weight to it. "Radiation? Am I going to die?" he questioned nervously.

Starscream gestured to the tools on the counter beside Jack. "That's what I was going to find out, I was thinking of doing tests to see if it would be fatal or not. The results will take some time, but if you've lasted this long, then a little while longer won't kill you." He said amused.

Jack scowled at him, but then horror set in. If _he_ was showing these effects, then what about his mother; she'd been living in that house longer than he had. Jack didn't know if the same could be said for his dad, but from what his mother said, he had been busy working or being sent out for food during her pregnancy and bouts of illness.

Jack's thought froze on that point. Could this be why his mother had gotten sick all the time when he was younger? He was willing to put aside his uneasiness about this ship and what had happened on it, if it meant he could make sure his mother was alright. She didn't have any powers to show for her sickness, so maybe it wasn't that bad? "What about my mother, she's probably worse off than I am."

"Oh and how long would you estimate she has been exposed to the radiation?" Starscream questioned.

"She's lived in the same house even before I was _born_, so a pretty long time." Jack replied.

Starscream's eyes widened and the strangest expression came across his face. It was like he was deciding on whether to be disbelieving or not. "I see." He said quietly and his eyes dimmed momentarily before brightening back up. "I shall do the tests on you first, and then you will bring your…" The ridges above his eyes seemed to draw together and the word came out a bit stilted. "…_mother_ here."

"Are you serious? My mom's already super-protective of me, I'll never be able to leave the house if she finds out something's wrong with us." Jack replied.

"Perhaps that would be for the best." Starscream mused and Jack looked alarmed. "You _will_ bring her here; it is the only way to see just how deep this goes. The drone will provide proof of existence when the time comes, but I expect it done before I call you to come back, understood?"

As it could very well be their lives on the line, Jack thought this was the path of least resistance. June had been pretty understanding of the whole 'power surge' thing, and what was one other weird thing to go on the list? At least this way he could give her answers as to why this had happened, and why she had kept getting sick. "Alright, but how long are these tests gonna take? I have to be home by 10, and she'll get angry if she finds out I took Cory out of the garage."

Jack's eyes widened in alarm once more; forget the current situation for a moment. His mother was going to be _so mad_ when he fessed up to _how_ he had to get to the ship. Alien robot of not, Jack had still broken the rule about his 'car.'

* * *

Arcee drove into the silo, and the girl's hold tightened even further as she was no doubt looking up at the assembled Autobots. She let the girl get off and put the helmet back before she transformed, and chose to ignore the startled look the redhead gave her.

"You! I can't believe _you_ got to come here!" Miko shouted as her face twisted up petulantly.

"Wasn't like I had much of a choice." The redhead muttered and glanced at Arcee.

Miko still looked peeved as she too gazed at Arcee. "Couldn't you have blown your cover in front of someone…_who's not her_?" she asked gesturing to the redhead. "Why wasn't it Maggie? She's at least cooler than little Miss Pep-_Peeve_."

The wariness and fear seemed to evaporate from the redhead as she glared at Miko. "What did you call me?"

"Enough." Optimus said and both Miko and the redhead quieted down as they looked at him. His gaze settled on the redhead. "I must apologize, for I must be going at the moment. Arcee will inform you of things, she will be in charge in my absence." He said as both he and Ratchet walked into the ground bridge.

Arcee felt her brow ridge tick when she heard Ratchet's departing remark, "Any more humans and we'd have an infestation." She _got it_; it was her fault half of the humans knew what they were.

Raf approached the girl, who looked at him with surprise. "Hi, I've seen you around school, you're Sierra, right?"

The redhead, Sierra, nodded. "And I think I've seen you too; aren't you in Maggie's computer class?"

Raf rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah."

Miko glared at Sierra once more. "How'd you find out, after your precious _cheer practice?"_ she questioned sarcastically.

Sierra glared back at her. "I heard her talking to Jack." She said glancing at Arcee once again.

Arcee crossed her arms and walked over to the space bridge lever. "Kids, explain things to Sierra. Bumblebee, we're going on patrol. Bulkhead, you're in charge." She said and pulled the lever, letting the vortex appear.

* * *

Sierra watched the swirling vortex close and looked down at Raf, as she wasn't about to talk to Miko again. "So, who's getting Jack?"

"Certainly not _us,"_ Miko interjected as she jerked her head in the direction of the green robot, Bulkhead, "if he likes you, no _thank you._ Plus, dude almost looked like he was going to throw up when he saw Bulkhead."

Bulkhead looked offended. "What'd I do to him?"

"I saw him on the steps outside school, and he looked the same way when he saw Bumblebee." Raf explained in a placating manner. "I think the run in with the Decepticons got to him more than any of us thought."

Sierra couldn't really comment on that, as she had run away with Maggie when those cars came at them, but she _had_ seen him on the verge of a panic attack when he tried to get her to leave. Why couldn't she have ignored hearing the motorbike speak and thought it was just Jack talking to himself? "Maybe he and I will have something to talk about on our date," she paused and frowned slightly, "will I even be allowed to go home?"

Raf blinked and nodded rapidly. "Yeah, we just gotta keep the Autobots a secret."

"Wait, you actually want to date him? He seemed so _boring_ though." Miko said and huffed. "Not that I care."

"Good, because one Maggie is enough, and _mine_." Sierra said possessively. The blonde had been her best friend since they were young, and she wasn't about to let this girl come between them. "I don't need someone else criticizing the boys I choose to date."

Miko jutted her chin up and crossed her arms. "Like I said; don't care." She said and there was a crashing sort of sound and she looked up at Bulkhead as he took a guitar out of his compartment.

"I think this is yours." He said handing it to her.

"My guitar, I guess I forgot I left it in the backseat." Miko said and looked around the base before she plugged it into an amplifier.

Sierra stared at Miko in disbelief. "You brought a guitar to an alien base?" she questioned as she didn't think even Maggie would have done that.

"It's Miko." Raf shrugged, like this was an everyday occurrence.

"You play an instrument, Raf?" Miko questioned.

"I play a little on the keyboards." Raf answered sheepishly.

Miko glanced over at Sierra, and scowled at her. "I'm guessing Maggie's the talented one out of the two of you?"

Sierra put her hands on her hips. "If you're referring to Maggie's singing, she sounds like a dying cat."

"Well she doesn't have to be _good_; my solo will totally make up for it." Miko said and began to strum her guitar. The sound of an alarm blared and green lights flashed around them, and this caused Miko to slump. "Aw man, I was just getting into it!"

"What's going on?" Sierra questioned as she looked around wildly.

"It's Agent Fowler." Raf answered and Sierra looked at him confused.

"Huh?" she asked dumbly.

"Government guy." Miko said shortly.

"Quick, hide behind me." Bulkhead said before the door slid open.

The three kids hide behind the giant green Autobot and Sierra wondered if maybe she should have done as Jack did; just try to ignore it.

* * *

Jack felt the remaining sting of his shirt sleeve congealing with the blood of the pinprick on his arm. Starscream had taken another blood sample first, and then had unceremoniously torn his whole sleeve off his under shirt before telling him to tie it to make the bleeding stop. The bot had then waited for him to do just that before he went right ahead with scanning him.

Jack had to remain completely still for the scan as Starscream didn't want to make a mistake, and then had done the same scanning and blood taking with Cory. "Why is it blue?" he'd asked confused once he saw the larger vial that Starscream used to store Cory's strange looking blood in. He'd used a much smaller one with Jack as he'd seemed to know that he wouldn't be able to take much, let alone fill a vial that was half Jack's size.

"It is energon, our life blood." Starscream had replied.

"I thought that was the Allspark?" Jack had further questioned.

"The Allspark is our life _giver_, this is out life _blood_." Starscream explained. "It is the reason we are on this planet; in our battles, resources of this became scarce. Discovering you was an accident, though you should be lucky it wasn't the Autobots who got to you first."

Jack hadn't replied to that as he watched Starscream set the scanner and two vials on a counter beside a large contraption and hook the scanner up to it. If Jack had to guess, perhaps it was like what Earth labs used to check for diseases and other anomalies. "Just how long will it take?"

"Precise time is unknown, but it should be long enough for you to fulfill your side of the arrangement." Starscream replied.

Jack bit his lip as he was about to ask something he'd been silent about for the entire duration. "You've never told me what happens _after_ these tests are done. If…if we live, what then?"

"I was wondering when you would bring that up." Starscream said quietly and he sounded bitter about something. "If the tests show that there is nothing fatal about this, then you would have to remain here-for your protection of course." He added when Jack's eyes widened.

The add-on did nothing to calm his nerves. Stay _here?_ "But I have a life, school, work; I can't just drop off the face of the Earth. And then there's not even mentioning my mom's job or the life she'd be giving up."

"Would you prefer the Autobots to capture you? They would not be as..._gentle_ as I'm being about this." Starscream replied.

Jack looked away, biting his lip harder before he answered. "No, I wouldn't like that." He admitted and looked at him, his stare hardening as he gathered his resolve. "You swear that my mom and I will be safe? That the Autobots won't get either of us, 'cause I'll be willing to compromise if you promise."

The ridges above Starscream's eyes rose this time. "Compromise; surely you've had enough time around your species to leave them?"

"It'll be suspicious if we just upped and left, and what if the next people who move in get infected too?" Jack questioned.

Starscream grimaced, and it seemed Jack had hit a sore spot. "That would be a problem." He muttered. "It would appear we both have a lot of thinking to do then." He said and before one of them could continue, the door opened and a slender mech walked in, and like the Vehicon, he didn't have a face, just a screen. Starscream's wings hitched slightly and he looked annoyed as he glanced at Jack. "Excuse me; I must take care of current matters."

Jack watched Starscream and the new bot leave, making him look to Cory an explanation. "Who was that?"

"Soundwave, nothing goes on here that he doesn't know about." Cory replied.

"So I'm guessing he already knew about us being here?" Jack questioned.

"Certainly." Cory said. "He was most likely also listening in on what we were doing."

Jack's eyes widened. "And I'm supposed to be comfortable living here with someone who doesn't know the phrase 'personal space?'"

"He doesn't get close to other mechs, so your words hold no real meaning." Cory explained and Jack groaned quietly.

"I didn't mean it like _that_. What I meant was that being watched by someone whose expression I can't read, really gives me the creeps." Jack replied.

"Ah," Cory said and seemed to finally understand, "indeed, it _is_ rather creepy. That is how Soundwave is though, he doesn't speak either."

"If you're trying to convince me to stay here, adding that bit isn't helping." Jack retorted and Cory shrugged.

The doors slid open and Starscream walked in, his expression blank as he stared at Cory. "Take him away, take him back to his home, but just _go."_

Jack furrowed his brow and caught the careful way he was speaking, like he was restraining himself. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Starscream glanced at Jack, but didn't answer as he narrowed his eyes at Cory before abruptly leaving, which left Jack feeling like he'd once again missed something; just like before.

Cory walked over to him and lifted him up and walked out of the room, and Jack saw they were going in the opposite direction of Starscream. Jack looked up at Cory and the Vehicon answered the unasked question. "The Commander has received some…_unexpected_ news and thought it best for us to leave before the _guest_ arrives."

Jack didn't like the sound of that. "Is there something wrong?" he questioned. "And how do you even know that?"

"Nothing is wrong." Cory said rigidly. "And we are able to communicate through comm. links and databursts for quick information." He continued. "You are not in any danger though, but it would be…for the best if we were not around at this point."

Jack was still unsure, but whatever was going on, he supposed it didn't matter. He'd already gotten his tests done, and Starscream would contact Cory to bring him back. "Alright."

* * *

"I can't believe Miko actually went through the bridge, how stupid is that?" Sierra asked and felt like pulling her hair out.

After the agent had left, storming out after they'd been given away, they had heard him being attacked by a Decepticon and had been captured. Bulkhead left been reluctant to actually go and rescue Fowler, but Raf said that the agent knew where the base was located. Bulkhead absently left him Sierra in charge, and had replied to Miko's indignant reason for why, with that Raf was too young and Miko was too wild before he'd left through the ground bridge.

Soon after he'd left though, Sierra and Raf noticed that Miko had been awfully quiet.

"We could try and go after them?" Raf suggested and Sierra stared at him.

"Are _you_ crazy?We can't do that! Who knows what the Decepticons would do to us, but I'm pretty sure it'd be worse than just_ trying_ to run us over." Sierra replied. "Is there any way to contact the other Autobots?"

"We'd have to go through the ground bridge and get Bulkhead to contact them." Raf said.

Sierra looked at the level and hurried up the steps to the higher level where it was. She was still out of reach, but she got onto the rail and jumped onto the lever. She used her weight to push it up and the green vortex appeared. "Stay put, Raf." She said as she quickly came back to down.

"What are you doing?" Raf asked as Sierra went over to the ground bridge portal.

The redhead looked at him seriously. "Someone has to stay here and wait for the call, right?" she questioned and for a brief moment, she looked nervous, but it was quickly replaced with a scowl. "I can't believe I'm doing this." She muttered and ran through the portal, reaching the other side as it closed behind her. Sierra had been too angry to fully realize what she had just done, but before fear could set in, she reasoned with herself that this was not the time to panic.

Sierra ran around a rock and gasped as she saw a giant black and purple robot standing there, and when it caught sight of her, it lifted a blaster in her direction. The redhead stared in terror, her mind freezing as she saw Bulkhead rush in and clobber the Decepticon. She jumped as she felt something grab her arm and she whirled around to see it was Miko.

Miko looked unimpressed. "What are you doing here, Miss Pep-Peeve?"

Sierra's fear turned to anger. "_You_, you're the reason! Were you not thinking when you went through the portal?!"

"Were you?" Miko retorted smugly.

Sierra clenched her fists. "I came to see if Bulkhead could contact the other Autobots!"

"Already done." Bulkhead interjected. "Just talked to Arcee before you got here." He said and pointed at the large pile of rocks. "Now both of you, take cover and stay put." He said and ran in the direction of the giant ship.

Sierra grabbed Miko's arm and pulled her toward the rocks. "Come on, you heard him."

Miko wrenched her arm free and stood firmly on the spot. "I don't think so! I'm not about to miss Bulkhead taking down 'Cons." She said and when she turned around, another black and purple Decepticon appeared.

The 'Con noticed them and raised its blaster.

"Oh no." Sierra said and raised her arms.

Miko crossed her arms defiantly, but after hearing the whine of the blaster power up and no sign of Bulkhead being nearby at the moment, she scowled and raised her arms as well. "This is all your fault." She hissed at Sierra.

The redhead glared at her. "How can this be _my_ fault? You were the one who came here in the first place!"

"Be quiet, both of you!" The Decepticon snapped and gestured to the ship, to which Sierra and Miko had no choice but to walk toward.

A deep yell rang out and the next moment, Bulkhead was sending a piece of the ship's plating through the Decepticon, the wires and sparking as it fell to the ground. While Miko cheered, Sierra stared at the purple and black form on the ground, and with the wheels on the ground as well, another picture formed in her mind.

"It's Jack's car!" she cried in realization, horror setting in.

Bulkhead looked confused. "What?"

Sierra pointed at the dead Decepticon with a shaky finger. "This Decepticon looks like Jack's car; he showed me a photo of it at our school."

Miko furrowed her brow and she tilted her head, but her face brightened with recognition as well. "It _does_ look like it." She agreed. "Wow, maybe Jack's not as boring as I thought."

Bulkhead didn't look like he shared her enthusiasm. "Are you sure that you saw it?"

Sierra nodded. "It's the same type." She reaffirmed. "Oh no, what if he's been captured too?"

"If the 'Cons had him, I doubt he'd have been able to leave, let along show you a _photo_ of a Vehicon." Bulkhead replied and Sierra's heart slowed just a little in relief.

"Man, his coolness just went down again." Miko said grumpily.

The ground bridge opened up once more, and both Arcee and Bumblebee came rushing out, blasters at the ready. Arcee took notice of the three of them standing in front of the ship and her expression hardened. "Bulkhead…"

"Hey, I put the kid in charge." Bulkhead said defensively as he pointed down at Sierra.

The redhead twitched as she looked at Miko. "Well I had to come and get Miko after she stupidly followed Bulkhead through the ground bridge."

Miko scowled. "What did you just say to me, Miss Pep-Peeve?"

"Quit calling me that!" Sierra shouted.

"We don't have time for this!" Arcee cut in swiftly. "Miko, Sierra, you both go back through the ground bridge, Bulkhead, 'Bee, let's go get Fowler."

"Who put _you_ back in charge?" Miko questioned snippily.

"She can be in charge!" Sierra said hastily and grabbed Miko's arm once again. "Now come on!" she shouted and pulled the girl toward the ground bridge.

Miko looked back as the three Autobots went into the bridge and she yanked her arm free. "Well, you're still not in charge of me!" She snapped and ran back to the ship.

Sierra looked at her in disbelief, and sent one longing stare toward safety before she groaned in frustration and went running after Miko. She caught up with Miko in a large room with a computer screen and she was staring up at it. "Are you insane? We could get caught, or _worse_." She whispered furiously. "Do you even a _brain_ or is that skull of yours so thick it can't comprehend the danger you just put us in?"

"Hey, you didn't have to follow me." Miko retorted.

"I know, and I'm regretting every second of it." Sierra deadpanned. "Maggie likes you though, and I still care about her to make sure her new friend stays alive. I've seen her upset and I don't want to watch her go through it again."

For a brief moment, Miko looked like she was going to reconsider whatever she was planning, but she scowled at her. "Don't think you're guilt trip is going to work." She hissed.

Sierra heard heavy steps on the floor and pulled Miko toward a crevice in the wall as a Vehicon walked by them. "We have to get out of here."

"I want pics." Miko said and reached in her pocket, her eyes widening. "My phone, it's not…" she saw the pink cell phone lying out in the open.

"Miko, don't even think…" Sierra trailed off as Miko rushed out to get her phone. She saw the Vehicon turn around abruptly and Sierra ran out of the crevice, tackling Miko as the Decepticon fired and hit the spot she'd been in. "Of _course _you weren't going to think." She said irritably as Miko snapped a picture of the Decepticon and the one of the computer screen before turning the camera phone on them.

"What, it's proof that we're bonding; Maggie's going to be so stoked." Miko said brightly.

Sierra's brow ticked as she dragged Miko up and back toward the crevice as the 'Con continued firing at them. "You almost getting us killed is _not_ bonding!" she shouted. She saw Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee round the corner and the blue Autobot took a shot at the Decepticon before she turned her ire onto the two girls.

"I thought I told you to go through the ground bridge?!" she shouted.

"It's Miko's fault!" Sierra shouted back and Miko glared at her.

Arcee let out a dismissive grunt as she put a finger to her head. "We have Fowler, Raf. Just pull the lever and the ground bridge will open." She said and looked down at them. "We're leaving, _now_." she said before the group quickly made their way out of the ship and saw the green portal open in front of them and without wasting a thought, they went through. Raf wasn't the only one they saw waiting for them though. "Optimus…"

"They got back before you did." Raf answered. "Sierra, Miko, are you two and Fowler alright?"

"We're fine, no thanks to Miko here." Sierra replied and Miko glared at her again.

"The 'Cons did a number on Fowler though." Bulkhead said holding up the delirious human.

Sierra saw the state the agent was in and felt the anger and adrenaline wear off, her fear hitting her full force and she felt her hands shake as she clenched them into fists. "If I'm allowed to leave, can I leave _now?_ I don't think I can handle _Miko_ more than I already do."

Miko scowled at her. "Right back at ya, Miss Pep-Peeve."

The portal opened and Sierra glanced at the red and white robot that opened it. "No sense in drawing it out, there's the door."

Sierra saw the buildings through the portal and nodded. She thought of saying something about Jack, but Miko would blurt it out sooner or later, and she needed to speak with him anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The last few hours had been a grateful wind down, as he'd almost enjoyed work and matching quips with Maggie. Almost, he still couldn't stand her. He looked down at his replacement shirt and the sleeve covering his Band-Aid that he'd cleaned up when Cory had first brought him back. Then it had been a hasty bike ride to work, where his boss reprimanded him for being late and caused Maggie to be testy had she had been the one to make up for it.

Jack stared blankly at the television, having already eaten his dinner of his choosing and was more invested in waiting for the moment when his mother returned. At the back of his mind was the belief that he could actually _die_. Jack heard the car outside, and got up to meet his mother at the door. It was better to do this now and get it over with, rather than later when he lost his nerve. He walked over to the front door and met his mother as she was getting out of her car. "Hey, mom."

"Jack, is something wrong?" she asked and sighed. "Did you leave your bike at school again?"

"Yes." Jack replied and paused. "Maybe to the first one and yes to the second one."

Any attempt at humor was not appreciated as June crossed her arms, her expression both stern and worried. "What is it, Jack? What happened?"

"It's…it has to do with my power surges and why tech acts so funny around me," Jack replied, "and to why you always got so sick."

June's face paled and she put a hand on his arm, steering to toward the house. "Maybe we should take this inside?" she suggested.

Jack shook his head as he moved to his mother's car and pushed the lever inside the car to make the garage door pull up. "We should talk in there." He said gesturing to Cory.

June looked stern again. "Jack, if this is some attempt to let you have permission to drive your car…"

"It's not, it's serious." Jack cut in gently. "And it has everything to do with…where I got Cory in the first place."

"You named your car?" June asked surprised.

Jack shrugged. "It just seemed to fit him." he said and June raised a brow at the 'he,' but didn't ask. "Please, trust me, and then I'll explain."

"You'd better, mister." June said firmly as she pointedly took the driver's seat and Jack took the passenger's. "Now start talking."

And so Jack did, deciding to get it all out in the open. "Cory is a talking, transforming alien robot; and this other robot called Starscream sent him with me to protect me from the Autobots, their enemies. The reason I make tech go weird and you got sick was because of radiation, and today I went out with Cory to see Starscream. He did several tests on me, saying that you and might die from the radiation, which is from the Allspark, their source of life." He said in one breath, letting out a gulp of air.

His mother was silent as she stared at him, emotions straining on her face for dominance, but concern was the most prominent at the moment. She didn't believe him, it was time for drastic measures. Well, _sort of_ drastic measures, but Cory's voice had freaked him out at first too.

"Cory, please tell my mom I'm not making this up." Jack said calmly.

"Jack…" June said worriedly. "If there's something else happening…"

"He is not making it up, what he says is true." Cory said swiftly and June's expression froze as she looked around wildly.

"Did…did this car really just talk?" she asked incredulously, to which Jack nodded. Her face hardened. "We're getting out, _now."_ she said with her 'serious face,' so Jack knew better than to argue. When they both got out, June led Jack over to the side. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I just did." Jack replied, but June's expression didn't change. "Would you really have believed me? It just seemed better to wait until I could, what would you have thought if Cory wouldn't say anything?"

June didn't answer, but her expression tightened. She wouldn't have believed him, just like she hadn't before Cory spoke. "Are you sure this 'Starscream' thinks what we have is fatal?" she questioned, as she most likely considered their health and safety to be a top issue.

"Yes, he asked me to bring you back when he got the tests results in." Jack replied.

"We should go to a real doctor to get this looked after." June retorted.

"We tried that already, remember all those times the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with us?" Jack asked. "Maybe it was because what we got hit with was alien, so the aliens would know what to look for."

"The term you are looking for is 'Cybertronian', for general use." Cory interjected, sounding a bit huffy.

"Sorry." Jack apologized sheepishly before his face turned serious. "Starscream promised he wouldn't hurt us, and like I said; he even sent Cory to protect me." Technically Starscream _had_ tried to hurt him, but that wasn't exactly the thing to say to get his mother on board with this.

"This implies that there is a reason to think you'd be in danger in the first place." June retorted and turned to Cory. "Where is this 'radiation' coming from?"

Cory was silent for a moment. "Under your house, I have done readings of my own, and it shows that the Allspark is almost completely depleted."

Even Jack knew where that energy probably went, and his mother caught on by the way her face paled once more. "Jack, go pack some clothes, we're staying in a motel tonight."

"Moving away will not help." Cory reasoned. "The energy is already infused with you both, only Commander Starscream's tests can tell how deep this goes."

"Be that as it may, I will not spend one minute more in this house if we're still at risk." June stated firmly. "I will go into work tomorrow and take a few days off; then we're going to see this 'Starscream' to get some answers."

"I will be unable to follow you though." Cory replied, and Jack thought he sounded worried. "My orders are to guard Jack, and I took a risk already by leaving. The Autobots must have been too distracted to notice my energy signal."

"No worries, I'll call you if something happens. Okay?" Jack asked and Cory seemed to be deliberating this by the answer he gave.

"Very well, give me the cell phone number so I will recognize it." Cory replied and as Jack listed off the numbers, he saw his mother make her way toward the house.

When he was done, Jack caught up with her, catching the suitcase she tossed at him from the closet. They both went upstairs, splitting when they got to their respective rooms, and coming out soon enough. June though stopped by the bathroom and took the soap, shampoo, and towels with her. Once they were outside, Jack closed the garage door, giving Cory a small wave, who in turned wiggled his mirrors, before he got into the passenger side of his mother's. He would have thought she was taking this considerably well, if he hadn't noticed the way her hands shook on the steering wheel.

Jack couldn't think of anything very reassuring to say at that moment. We might not die? That certainly wouldn't help. He didn't say anything in the end as he put his hand over his mother's, and he felt her hand tighten on the steering wheel before she pulled out of the driveway.

* * *

Cory felt disappointed that Jack hadn't patted his hood before he left, but there would still be a chance later. It gave himself time to think, the revelation of earlier still sending a thrill through his plating. He had a _spark_, how could Jack have done that? Was the Allspark power he had stronger than any of them realized? It might explain why Jack made Earth tech malfunction, but that still did not explain why his mother would not exhibit the same power.

Who knows, Cory hadn't spent enough time around her to know anything than what he'd already gathered. Which was admittedly not much; still, it was time to contact the Commander with this bumped up deadline. The Commander had sounded so sure of himself and what he'd been talking about, that Cory almost believed he cared for Jack's life. He demeaning way he still spoke of Jack in his comm. orders were enough to tip him off that _Jack_ didn't matter, only the power he held.

It was also not hard to miss the disappointment he'd expressed over the fact Jack could survive the radiation.

_:Commander Starscream, Jack's mother has requested to see you the next solar cycle. She is most angry with this:_ Cory commed.

Starscream sounded agitated when he finally replied._ :They can't come here! We're in orbit right now! You will delay her, and **I** tell you when t come back, understood, drone?:_

Cory felt his temper flare. _:Yes, **sir:** _he said and the other line went dead. He used the number Jack had given him and called, waiting for the line to pick up.

"Hello, who is this?" Jack asked nervously.

Even if he couldn't see Jack, the nervousness made Cory think of the energy field and shuddered pleasantly. "Jack, this is…Cory," he said hesitantly, as saying the name still felt weird, "I have informed Commander Starscream of your mother's demands. He will be unable to see either of you tomorrow as he is currently in orbit."

"What?" Jack repeated and there was some muffled speech in the background. "Hang on; my mom wants to speak with you."

"Are you telling me that after testing my son, this 'Starscream' just up and left?" Jack's mother demanded.

"That is correct." Cory admitted. "He has said he will tell me when to return, though my own suspicion is that there is something else going on; most likely with the Autobots as the Commander was very adamant I keep Jack away from them."

"Well, at least we can agree on something." The woman said darkly. "I _do_ expect to meet your Commander though; these are our _lives_ we're talking about."

"Understood." Cory replied. "I will at the ready for any emergency."

The woman was silent for a moment. "Well alright then." She said before the line went dead.

* * *

After Sierra had left, Miko showed her pictures to Bulkhead. "I got some cool shots, though there is this one of a bunch of boring-looking stuff." She said huffily as she showed him the picture of the writing on the ship's terminal.

Ratchet sputtered briefly as he caught sight of what the writing actually was. "I'll have you know that 'boring-looking stuff' is the plans for a space bridge!"

"Megatron must be planning to bring his undead army here." Optimus added.

"But the only place that Megatron could recruit so many fallen warriors is…" Ratchet trailed off and Optimus looked grim.

"Cybertron." He said and looked to Bumblebee and Bulkhead. "Take the children home now, we have work to do."

"What about Jack?" Miko asked and Optimus looked down at her. "Sierra said that Jack's car is a 'Con, I saw the same image on his phone, and they looked the same."

"How can you be so sure? She wouldn't have gotten a good look at the Vehicons that chased us on that night." Arcee said.

"She was sure it was a Vehicon. This Jack probably doesn't even know what the car _is."_ Bulkhead retorted.

"Regardless, this is troubling indeed if the Decepticons have already located the human boy." Optimus said and sighed gravely. "If he is being kept alive and unaware, then they must have a motive for doing so. Our first priority is to stop Megatron, and as the human boy is currently not in harm's way, we shall deal with that afterwards."

The words were logical, but the motive was still a mystery. What reason _would_ there be for Jack to still be alive?

* * *

"Did you really think you could keep this from me?"

Starscream felt his wings twitch at the growl in Megatron's vocalizer as he had started to check the progress of the tests. He whirled around, keeping the samples hidden from sight. "Whatever do you mean, Master? I have kept nothing from you." He said glibly. His faceplate still hurt from being stepped on, and he didn't want a repeat so soon.

Megatron stalked across the room, his movement slow and deliberate. "You haven't, have you?" he asked calmly, but there was a menacing edge to it. "Soundwave informed me of your little side project."

Starscream grew tense. This was going to hurt, wasn't it?

"Your orders with the drone, the organics, your tests, and the _Allspark,_" Megatron growled and leaned in menacingly, "you have known its location, and you never spoke of it. Do not think I don't see what your plan is."

"Plan, what plan?" Starscream questioned. "I was merely withholding this to ensure better results, I did not want to make you wait, my liege."

Megatron's optics narrowed, making it clear that he didn't believe a word of the dribble. "Then tell me, Starscream, why are the humans not here, or the Allspark?"

"We are in orbit, the humans wouldn't survive!" Starscream retorted. "And the power they hold in them would be lost with them. And had the Allspark excavated, the the Autobots would no doubt be made aware of it. It is simply too valuable to lose and I did not want to disrupt your plans with those annoying humans."

"They hold the power of the Allspark; sending one Vehicon is _not_ securing it." Megatron growled. "You've failed to mention the development of a spark within the drone, what do you have to say to _that?"_

Starscream blinked and thought fast. "It was unforeseen, but the humans will be brought here immediately once we re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. If-_when,"_ he said hastily to show he didn't doubt his leader's plan, "the dead come to this planet; the humans with the power will not be harmed, until _after_ I have found a way to extract the power from them." He said and bowed slightly in submission. "If you would allow for this of course, Master."

Megatron narrowed his optic further as he leaned in closely, his tone never losing its edge. "You will report to me when you have verified these findings, or your punishment will be most _unpleasant."_ He said and closed his servo around Starscream's throat. "Do I make myself clear?"

Starscream felt his spark beat rapidly against its casing. "Yes." He wheezed out. He glared at Megatron's back as the Decepticon left, before he turned to the tests in the machine. It hadn't been as bad as he thought, but he didn't dare think Megatron wouldn't go through with it if he didn't come up with something.

The boy's organic creator wishing to see him as soon as possible could work in his favor, as it meant he would have one less problem. He glowered at the machine, wanting it to hurry up already.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Sierra questioned as she saw Miko at her door. Her dad had told her she had a friend come by, and she'd expected Maggie, not this girl. "How did you know where I lived?"

Miko crossed her arms, Bulkhead sitting at the curb in the background. "I asked Maggie, she seemed happy to know we were trying to get along." She said and rolled her eyes. "I wanted to talk to you about the 'Bots."

"If you're trying to convince me to go back, then forget it; I never should have asked Jack who he was talking too yesterday." Sierra said.

"Enough of your boy problems!" Miko said annoyed. "Maggie might put up with it, but I'm not going too. And I'm not going to convince you to come back, why would I want you there anyway? I'm rather happy without seeing you everywhere, Miss Pep-Peeve."

Sierra scowled at her. "Quit calling me that!" she snapped. "Why do you even hate me? I've done nothing to you."

Miko ignored the question. "I thought you'd be happy with me agreeing with you, you'd be a terrible secret keeper!" she yelled and Sierra huffed and turned around. Miko rolled her eyes as she turned on heel and made her way back over to Bulkhead.

Sierra slammed the door shut, her anger fading away. Now that she could think clearly, she grew indignant. Miko was telling _her_ she couldn't keep a secret? The redhead walked over to the phone and dialed Maggie's cell number. She waited until she heard the call get taken. "Maggie; is Jack at work with you?"

Maggie didn't answer right away. "Gee, hello you too." She said sarcastically and Sierra flushed in embarrassment. "Yeah, he's here. Crap, I there's the manager, gotta go." She said and line went dead.

Sierra hung up the phone and made her way to the garage. She peered past the door at her father, who was bent over the engine, the raised hood of the car obscuring him from view. "Dad, how about we have burgers for lunch? I'll go get them." She offered.

"Hmm, wallet is on the table; try not to take too long." Her father replied distractedly.

"Right, I'll be back soon." Sierra said and hastily grabbed the wallet from the kitchen table and went outside. She didn't have far to walk, as the burger joint was down the block and across the street. When she arrived after checking to make sure no cars were driving by, she walked inside and over to the counter where Maggie was. "Two burgers and a side of fries; where's Jack?"

Maggie blinked and nodded as she put the order into the register. "Hold on a moment." She said and went over to the drive through window. "Jack, get out here, I'll cover that for you."

Jack walked out and opened his mouth, but closed it when he saw Sierra. "Uh, hi, Sierra." He said and looked back at Maggie. "I thought you weren't going to help me?"

"It's not _you_ helping, is it?" Maggie snapped back.

Jack looked embarrassed before he walked over to the register and saw that everything was already punched in. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Jack, uh, I didn't see a bike or car outside, don't you take them?" Sierra asked awkwardly.

Jack's brow furrowed as though he also found this question odd. "No, my mom dropped me off, left my bike at school and she still won't let me drive my car."

"Oh," Sierra said and rubbed her hands together, "speaking of your car, I saw another one like it, just yesterday."

Jack stared at her blankly, so Sierra decided to be more open about it.

"With Miko, and her green _car_." She stressed and saw Jack's face twitch in surprise, but it made her heart speed up. So Jack really _did_ know about the Decepticons, was that photo just to play along? He must not have known how dangerous they were.

"They got to you too?" Jack asked and sounded concerned. His eyes glanced over at the window, and he looked relieved by something. "Did they let you go, or is one of them waiting someplace out of sight?"

Sierra's eyes widened as his tone, he almost sounded scared. Just what _had_ the Decepticons said to make him scared of the Autobots? "Jack, the Autobots aren't the bad guys." She could guess this much at least, _they_ hadn't tried to kill her and Miko anyway.

Jack looked at her with pity. "That's just what their saying, Starscream said they were their enemies."

"They're called Decepticons, why would they be called that if they were the good guys?" Sierra retorted.

Jack's expression was torn, but he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sierra, but I can't take your word for it." He said quietly and the numbers on the register started to switch while the lights overhead began to flicker.

"Order's up." Maggie said and came out from the back with two paper bags. She looked at the tension between Sierra and Jack, and raised her brow. "What's going on?"

The lights and register stopped acting up as he turned away. "Nothing, I'm sure you can ring the order up yourself." He muttered and went back to the drive-in window.

Maggie furrowed her brow as she stared at the machine and hit the side of it. "Stupid thing is getting old." She said huffing before punching in the order once more. "That'll be $9.45." she said and Sierra handed her a ten, and got her change back.

Sierra thought for a moment, and she looked at Maggie seriously. "Do you have Miko's number on your phone?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Maggie questioned, her brow raised even higher.

"Can I borrow it for a moment; I need to speak with her." Sierra said.

"My best friend and my newest friend are really trying to get along? I thought Miko was just saying that." Maggie mused before she pulled her phone of her pocket and handed it to Sierra.

"Thanks." She said and opened it, but grimaced as she saw that the screensaver was of her and Miko. It was the photo she took on the Decepticon ship. "Miko sent you this?" she questioned and Maggie nodded. Sierra looked through the contacts and found Miko's name; she put the phone to her ear and waited.

"Maggie?"

"No, this is Sierra, I'm using her phone." Sierra said and spoke quickly. "But before you hang up on me, could you give me a ride to the Autobot base?"

"Thought you didn't _want_ to go back?" Miko asked petulantly.

"It's about Jack, and his involvement with the Decepticons." Sierra replied.

Miko was silent for a moment. "Alright," she said reluctantly, "where are you?"

"At KO Burger, but I'm walking home, I gotta give my dad his lunch; I'm sure you know where I _live_ now." Sierra said sullenly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Miko said dismissively and the line went dead.

Sierra sighed and closed the phone before handing it back to Maggie. "Thanks again." She said before grabbing the paper bags and made her way out of the establishment, walking back through the path she took to get to the fast food place. When she arrived home, she went in through the front door and put the wallet back onto the table, and then she took one of the paper bags out into the garage. "Here's your lunch, dad."

"Thanks, Princess; just set in down on the counter." Her father said pointing an oil-stained hand toward the counter against the wall and full of car tools.

"I'm going out; I'll probably be back late." Sierra said.

"Maggie?" Her father asked.

"No, it's a friend she made at school. She wants us to get along, we have…certain differences." Sierra said vaguely.

"Well, have fun, and if you and your new friend get hungry, you can stop to pick something up." Her father replied. "Just remember to be back by your curfew."

"I got it, dad." Sierra replied and walked out of the garage. She wondered if he'd even touch the food inside the bag, as it was like he was in his own little world when he brought home a job which he couldn't put enough time into at his mechanics shop. It didn't happen often, but he'd told her that this car was being stubborn.

Sierra walked into the kitchen and picked the wallet back up, but she also grabbed her purse from the chair. She hadn't taken it with her to KO Burger because it wasn't that far away, but who knew how long she'd be gone. She put the wallet into the purse and opened the bag; she might as well eat after all before she finds out how to save Jack.

* * *

"Why are we going back to Sierra's house, I thought she didn't want anything to do with us?" Bulkhead asked confused.

Miko crossed her arms. "Sierra says she's got more info on Jack and the Decepticons." She said and they when Bulkhead pulled up on the curb, she peered out the window as Bulkhead honked his horn. A moment later, Sierra came running out, a purse over her shoulder and a paper bag in the other hand. "What's with that stuff?"

Sierra looked annoyed. "I didn't get a change to eat yet." She said, but didn't open the bag.

"What did you have to tell us?" Bulkhead questioned as he started to drive down the street.

"Jack thinks _you're_ the bad guys, and he knows what his car really is." Sierra explained.

Miko scoffed. "How can he think the 'Bots are bad; those 'Cons must have said something to him."

"Jack did mention that a 'Starscream' spoke to him." Sierra said, though not a moment later did Bulkhead jerk to a stop.

"Hey, Bulk,' what's the deal?" Miko asked.

"The 'deal' Miko is that Starscream is the second-in-command of the Decepticons." Bulkhead explained. "If Starscream spoke to Jack, then they _must_ need him for something."

"What could he possibly do for them?" Sierra questioned before she blinked. "Wait; at the Burger joint, when I was talking to Jack, he got really nervous as our conversation kept going. The lights and register went funny, but I didn't think it meant anything."

"Jack can affect tech? He has officially just become somewhat cool again." Miko said excitedly.

"No, this is not 'cool,' Miko. If Jack really can do this, then the Decepticons could make him cause blackouts, or something just as bad." Bulkhead said.

"Has anyone yet gone to talk to Jack?" Sierra asked.

"No." Bulkhead replied confused.

Miko snorted as she realized what Sierra meant. "Dude, if you already blew it, why _would_ he want to talk to you again?"

"Well I'm the only one without an Autobot following them around, if he sees them, he probably _will_ get sick, and _then_ runaway." Sierra retorted.

"I could do it; he's never really talked to _me."_ Miko replied proudly.

"And I'm sure he'd never want to again either." Sierra deadpanned.

Miko scowled. "Shut it, Pep-Peeve." She hissed. "You don't know _what_ he wants."

"Well, neither do you." Sierra retorted.

"Maybe Raf would have a better chance." Bulkhead suggested and both girls looked at his steering wheel. "He was with Jack when the Vehicons attacked first, so maybe it'd work better."

Miko leaned back in the seat and pouted. "Fine." She said and saw Sierra giving her a suspicious look through the rear-view mirror.

* * *

Sierra didn't know how to expect Raf to react to the their opinion he try to speak some sense to Jack after explaining that Jack thought _they_ were the bad guys, but he didn't get a chance to reply once Bumblebee started beeping.

"It's okay 'Bee, Jack doesn't bring the Decepticon to school, and I doubt he'd see me as much of a threat." Raf replied.

"I just think it's strange that Jack would go with someone who tried to kill him." Sierra said offhandedly.

"Starscream can be very good at manipulating to suit his own ends; if Jack showed his fear of us, then he would have likely twisted those fears." Optimus explained.

"When we got away from the fight that day, Jack didn't seem all that scared, just…surprised. And then the next day he's freaking out." Raf said confused before realization set in. "Could the Vehicon have went back for him? Would it have been able to detect his power?"

"This will have to be investigated at a…later date." Optimus let the words hang in the air.

"Optimus," Ratchet said from the main console, "I've pinpointed the location of Megatron's space bridge, high in Earth's orbit."

"Out of our reach." Optimus added.

Miko looked confused as she placed a hand on her hip. "Okay, so you guys don't fly, but can't you just ground bridge there?"

"The ground bridge has limited range," Ratchet said bring his hands close together to emphasize his point, "stretched all the way into orbit its vortex could _snap,"_ he said and flared his arms out, "and scatter us to the stars."

Miko looked surprised and even Sierra thought that would suck.

"Since Megatron is already likely in transit, I'm afraid we must take that risk. Reaching the space bridge first, is our only means of stopping him." Optimus explained. "Autobots, prepare for departure."

Ratchet pulled the lever and the ground bridge started up as Raf and Miko said their cautions to their guardians to be careful, or expression jealously in Miko's case, while Ratchet warned Optimus not to leave him stranded on a planet full of humans. For the first time in a long time, Sierra felt awkward and out of place as she watched the Autobots go driving into the ground bridge portal.

Her reason for coming back seemed small and insignificant compared to the Autobot's current goal. She wanted to save Jack; they were trying to save the _world._

As they were in the base, all they could hear were the 'Bots words through the communications network, but the bit about the damaged dish made Sierra pause. Was Optimus talking about yesterday when the other 'Bots rampaged through the ship?

"Don't the Decepticons know where their own planet is?" Raf asked, breaking Sierra out of her thoughts.

"Naturally." Ratchet retorted. "Cybertron is many light years away, to reach their target, their aim must astronomically precise."

"If Megatron went to the trouble of rendezvousing with his space bridge, he must have an alternate targeting system." Optimus devised. "A remote one."

Ratchet scoffed. "From what I know of Earth's technology, I doubt there exists a single radio telescope dish on this planet powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron."

"What about a whole bunch of linked radio telescope dishes?" Raf said opening his laptop and began typing. "Like the giant size-array in Texas?"

Ratchet made several sounds of disapproval as he pointed to the monitor. "This is not child's play."

"Good thinking, Raf." Optimus said a moment later. "Ratchet, have Agent Fowler alert the array staff to a security hazard."

"You, soldier!" Fowler yelled as he shot up from the medical bed he was lying on. "You're out of uniform, put on some pants." He said before falling down again.

"He's still loopy from yesterday?" Sierra questioned.

"Oh, yeah." Miko replied.

"That may be a challenge." Ratchet said to Optimus' command.

Raf turned back in his seat as he tried to hack the system. "I can't get past the firewalls, there too thick."

"You? You actually think you could keep the Decepticons out?" Ratchet asked in a deadpan.

"Maybe." Raf replied. "_If_ I could get in." he added uncertainly.

Sierra bit her lip, thinking Maggie must have started to rub off on her. "Wait, Raf; what if we could get you all the way in? Like, inside the building in?" she asked awkwardly.

"I could log into their internal network on the other side of the firewall." Raf said.

"The risk is too great, the Decepticons will be there, perhaps even on site." Optimus said.

Sierra frowned to herself as she mustered up her resolve. "Look, Optimus, with all due respect," she added a touch respectfully to force this point home, "this is bigger than the safety of three humans."

"Yeah!" Miko added her two cents in, and both looked momentarily surprise to have agreed on something. "If the 'Cons win, we're fragged, along with everyone else on our planet."

"Raf…" Optimus said and waited for the reply.

Raf looked to be thinking before his expression became determined. "I wanna give it a shot."

The ground bridge was opened for them, and though Sierra had already gone through it, she hadn't travelled this _far_. When the three of them got the other end of the portal, she held her stomach and felt nauseas. She glanced to each side and saw Miko and Raf weren't doing so well either. She doubted she'd thrown up as she still hadn't had the time to eat, because she didn't want to get food over Bulkhead's floor. She couldn't speak for if Raf or Miko ate recently, but then she really couldn't speak at all for the moment without feeling like she was going to throw up.

"That's going take some more getting used to." Sierra said after her nausea had passed.

They looked up at the giant dishes and the several buildings on the front before running over to the door. Miko opened the door and looked after they had found a computer for Raf to use.

"Security sure is lax in this place." she said.

"I'm in, and so are the Decepticons." Raf said.

"What?" Sierra asked in disbelief.

"How can you tell?" Miko questioned.

"Schematics, with the same alien math you two saw on their ship, I recognized it from the photo you took, Miko." Raf explained. "I can download this though, maybe it's important." He said and pulled out a flash drive from his pocket and plugged it in.

"It's gotta be the space bridge." Miko pointed out.

"The Decepticons are sinking it to the dishes, but I can sink to them." Raf said and began typing more on the keyboard.

Sierra pulled back nervously and fought down the urge to flee. "Will they know?"

"Even if the Decepticons see that I'm in the system, they'll have no idea that I'm in the house." Raf said reassuringly before the spheres on the screen started to beep red. "They're locked onto Cybertron, but not for long." He said and typed in the commands to change directions. "The dishes are heading back towards Cybertron, but I can undo that again." He said and started a repeat of changing the space bridge's position.

"What happens when the 'Cons realize they're being punked?" Sierra questioned worriedly.

"It's only virtual combat; you know, like online gaming." Raf said shrugging.

"Yeah, Sierra, what are the 'Cons gonna do?" Miko challenged and Sierra looked at her with annoyance. "Probably like, a thousand miles away."

Sierra's face grew pinched, but when she looked down at the screen, she saw the reflection of a snake-like tentacle in the air and poised at Raf. Her eyes widened and she moved in front of him, yelling as the tentacle got her in the back and pushed her into Miko, making them both go flying into the wall. Sierra held her head momentarily as it tried to grab Raf, but he pulled the flash drive out and jumped up onto the table to avoid it. He jumped off the table as the tentacle knocked the computer to the floor and Sierra saw Miko grab an axe.

"What are you doing?!" Sierra asked incredulously.

"Something, unlike _you_." Miko snapped and attempted to chop down on the tentacle, only to have it pull back and slam into Miko, making her drop the weapon and go flying back into the wall.

"You handed it an axe?!" Sierra yelled as the tentacle picked the axe up.

"Not good." Raf added.

The tentacle appeared to come down at them, causing them to cover themselves with their arms as a reflex, only for it to go gliding back out the door. The three kids raced after it down the hall, rushing into the last room where they saw a slender 'Con on the skylight, looking ready to take off, only for it to look back at them. Miko pulled out her phone and took a picture, while the 'Con in turn took a picture of them; then transformed and flew off.

"Why is he leaving?" Miko questioned.

"He cut the hard line." Raf said as he walked over to the sparking wires where the axe had been cut into. "The dishes are locked onto Cybertron, for good." He said and they grimly walked out of the building and waited for the ground bridge to open, as per their contingency measure to let them get back to the base.

When they walked back into the base, Sierra saw Fowler was looking less loopy and more in control of himself, but was still hunched over and they noticed on the screen there were hundreds of little dots as they made their way up the platform.

"Optimus! I'm registering an impending mass towards the space bridge vortex." Ratchet said over the intercom. "One with a peculiar energy signature."

"Dark energon." Optimus said. "Ratchet, we must destroy the space bridge. There's enough live energon coursing through it for detonation, but we lack the fire power to ignite it."

"If I knew how the space bridge was engineered, I might find a technical way of accomplishing that feat." Ratchet said.

"Um," Raf said hesitantly as he pulled his flash drive out of his pocket, "would schematics help?"

Ratchet glanced down at the boy before looking at the screen. "Optimus, I must say, the space bridge is our sole hope of ever returning to Cybertron. Are you certain it's destruction is the only option?"

"I am afraid so." Optimus replied gravely.

"Then by all means, let us light our darkest hour." Ratchet said.

"Autobots; take your positions and followed Ratchet's lead." Optimus said.

The four humans took notice of the fact the dots were steadily growing closer to the center of the vortex.

"These things are getting closer, that's bad, right?" Fowler questioned.

"Ratchet," Arcee said over the intercom, "we're in position."

"Arcee, pay close attention." Ratchet said looking over at the glowing red cylinder that Raf brought up on his laptop and he gave the instructions. "Now follow the regulator to the energon pump, there should be a valve."

"I see it." Arcee replied.

"Good, to turn all that power against itself, all you need do is reverse the current." Ratchet explained.

There was a moment of silence before a slightly breathless reply came through. "Current reversed."

"Yes!" Fowler shouted and pumped his fist into the air. "Right?"

"I'll ready the ground bridge." Ratchet said and went over to the controls. "Optimus, the ground bridge is ready and waiting." He said after a few minutes.

Though the ground bridge was still active, no one had come through yet.

"Do…do think…" Raf trailed off uncertainly.

Ratchet checked his life-line. "Four life signatures, one very faint." He said and footsteps sounded through the base as the Autobots started coming in, starting with Optimus, and Bulkhead followed.

Miko looked relieved as she ran down the steps. "Bulkhead!" she shouted as she hugged his hand.

Sierra and Raf walked down the steps as Bumblebee came rushing in, carrying Arcee in his arms. There was a tense moment before Arcee opened her optics slightly and looked around.

"Megatron?" Ratchet questioned.

"Not even he could have survived ground zero." Optimus replied.

"Prime!" Fowler called as he straight his jacket. "I didn't get to thank you 'Bots for the save, I owe you one, we all do." He said and stepped into the elevator.

Bumblebee set Arcee down as she steadied herself, and Miko walked over to Optimus, looking anxious.

"So, is this the part where you say 'goodbye' and tell us to forget we ever saw you?" she asked.

Optimus looked over the three kids and seemed to be debating it for a moment. "You have shown bravery...that will not be necessary."

Miko whooped excitedly before she ran back over to Bulkhead, while Raf sighed in relief to go presumably check on Bumblebee. Sierra made her way up the steps toward where she had put her paper bag and purse. She slung the purse over her shoulder and opened the bag.

"Awesome. All that work and I am _starving_._"_ Miko exclaimed after she'd seen the bag in Sierra's hand and hurried up the steps to snatch it away from her. She opened the bag and took a few fries before plopping them in her mouth.

Sierra irritably snatched the bag back. "Bye your own, this is _my_ meal."

"Which you didn't bother to eat." Miko retorted and grabbed the bag back.

Sierra wrenched to back to herself. "Well, there wasn't any time for me to eat."

"Again, your own fault." Miko replied and grabbed the bag once again.

Raf shook his head as he walked up the platform and stood between them. "Couldn't you just share?"

"It's my food though, I bought it," Sierra said and paused, "with my dad's money that he let me use." She admitted quietly.

Miko raised a brow. "Your dad lets you take his money whenever you want?" she questioned and crossed her arms. "Why am I not surprised, Miss Pep-Peeve gets everything she wants."

Sierra scowled and her grip on the paper bag tightened. "Stop _calling_ me that, it's annoying, much like you."

Miko glared at her as she gently pushed Raf to the side so he wasn't in the way. "Don't think I don't know the only reason you're here is because of _Jack_. That's why you called, wasn't it? Once you find out the one you want is with the bad guys _then_ you get involved."

Sierra couldn't argue her point that Miko was wrong, but she wasn't. And it frustrated her. With no could retort she could think of, she turned up her nose as she crossed her arms and walked away, Miko also turning away.

Raf looked at both of them as they stood on opposite end of the platform and sighed. Sierra pitied him for trying to play the mediator, but this animosity wasn't going to be tempered so easily.

* * *

Cory was surprised to be getting a comm. call so early as he was sure Starscream wouldn't be back on Earth for a while, for whatever reason he had been up there in the first place for. _:Commander, is everything well?:_

Starscream chuckled lightly on the other end of the line. _:Oh, everything is very well, but it's **Lord** Starscream now:_

Cory was confused, and his voice conveyed as much. _:What do you mean? The only way you could be the leader is if…:_

_:That's right, our Master has met an untimely demise with an incident with the space bridge:_ Starscream replied.

Cory slowly started to piece the pieces together, and the outrage hit him fast. _:You kept this from me? Surely Lord Megatron would have wanted to know about the organics!:_

_:Watch your glossa **drone,** Megatron is now gone now; I'm in charge:_ Starscream said, whatever cloud nine feeling he was having dissipating with his venomous words. _:We are bringing the Nemesis back into Earth's atmosphere, you will bring the humans to these co-ordinates, is that understood?:_

Cory was still seething at this deception, though he still valued the brand new spark enough not to have it extinguished so soon. _:Yes, sir:_ he said in a clipped tone. The data was sent to him, and the line went dead. Cory finally had his answers about what that 'Big thing' going on was, he just had no idea Megatron was involved.

Just how had he met his demise? He doubted he could very well ask Starscream.

Right now he had to inform Jack of this development, he thought as he heard the sound of the phone being picked up. "Jack, I have news."

"Make it quick, my boss catches me with a phone, I could get in serious trouble." Jack whispered.

"Very well, Comman-" Cory cut himself off as he had to address Starscream by his new title, no matter how much he was loathed too. "_Lord_ Starscream is bringing the Nemesis back into the atmosphere, he told us to meet him at the co-ordinates he gave me."

"Alright, gotta go." Jack said hurriedly and hung up his phone.

Cory cut the line too as he moved agitatedly on his wheels; just what _had_ went on recently?


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

June was nervously looking out the window as she kept her hands on the steering wheel of her son's…alien robot car. And didn't _that_ sound so weird? She still refused to let Jack 'drive,' as she stood by the fact it could be unsafe, no matter _what_ Cory said. "Do we have to worry about any Autobots showing up?" she questioned.

"No, they didn't before, though I'd best speed up to decline the chances of that happening." Cory replied.

June pursed her lips for a moment. "Fine." She relented quietly.

Cory didn't reply as the speed rapidly increased and both Jack and June were pressed against their seats. As he was likely focused on getting them to the ship, June had a moment to talk with her son.

"Have these Autobots tried to come see you yet?" she asked.

"Twice." Jack admitted and Cory stalled for a moment as June looked even more worried.

"You said it was _once_." Cory said accusingly.

"I couldn't have you following me; it would have made everything worse." Jack replied heatedly.

Cory turned silent once more, but June wasn't finished with it.

"Jack, this is serious. What if they didn't wait for you to go willingly?" she questioned.

Jack glanced out at the desert, his expression turning guilty. "I don't know, but I wasn't about to make things worse." He repeated.

"Jack, there's a difference between being selfless, and being brainless." June replied and Jack looked at her sharply, but she calmly continued. "If you told Cory the truth, then he could have gotten authorization to tell me about what was going on, and then maybe we could have worked something out sooner before the Autobots could get to you the second time. Or maybe they still would; the point is, Jack, you really need to think things through more, do you understand?"

Jack grimaced, his eyes going downcast as he looked thoroughly chastised. "Yeah, I get it." He said as his eyes held a far-away look in them. "I'll try to be more careful."

"I can understand things not working out like you want them too." June said in a softer tone as she felt the memories of her time with her husband stir, but she pushed them away for the moment. Now was not the time to dwell on the past, but if she and Jack were affected, then tracking him down could be a very real possibility. "It scares me, it really does, knowing that we might have some disease that could kill us, and not being able to have kept you safe."

"You have though, my whole life you were able too, but maybe it's time to accept some _other_ help now." Jack replied. He looked conflicted, but resolve crossed his face. "Starscream said if we survive, we might not be able to…to live like we were."

June grimaced. "We'll get to that bridge when we cross it." She said finally.

"There is a bridge nearby?" Cory questioned.

Jack glanced down at the steering wheel. "No, it's just an expression; it just means we're uneasy about what happens after."

June thought they had every reason to worry, who knows what was happening to them after all these years. What if it had been killing them slowly? What if something else went wrong? There were too many 'what if' to think about, and the fact they were going to get some answers was the only thing keeping her grounded. The sun was still low in the sky as they had decided to leave early, but the paranoia of being spotted was still great. Still, if Jack and Cory were able to leave in _broad daylight_ without drawing eyes to them, then they could be in the clear.

Wait…

"You took Cory out when I told you not to?" June questioned as that fact finally sunk it.

Jack sunk guiltily in his seat. "I was kinda hoping you'd missed that part."

* * *

Sierra brushed her hair in front of her mirror, the breeze blowing in through the screen of her open window. She pulled her hair back into its ponytail, but paused in confusion when she heard the sound of honking right outside. Her father wouldn't have been finished the mechanic job so soon and he certainly would be testing out the horn if the problem was the engine. She tightened her ponytail before she got up and walked over to the window, her eyes widening in disbelief when saw Arcee on the curb.

The redhead rushed downstairs and out paused briefly at the door to slip on her shoes before she hurried out to the blue Autobot. "What are you doing here?" she questioned and glanced back at the closed garage door.

"I'm here to babysit you." Arcee replied sullenly.

Sierra furrowed her brow, but she thought of how both Miko and Raf had Autobots following them around. "What? Why?" she asked, but then thought of how stupid that question was. "Never mind, I know the why, but is it really that necessary?"

"With the Decepticons having already gotten their hooks into Jack, Optimus isn't taking any chances; hence why I'm here." Arcee replied. "Believe me, you're not the only one who doesn't want this." She muttered.

Sierra frowned, but the mention of Jack brought on another thought. "What's Optimus decided to do about Jack, anyway?"

"He has Ratchet attempting to pinpoint any strange energy signatures that should not be occurring; if Jack really does have this ability, then he will be detected." Arcee explained, though she sounded dubious.

Sierra figured the Autobot was having trouble believing her about how Jack really did make the lights and cash register go funny, but it was true, and it was a start. "I just hope Raf is able to talk some sense into Jack tomorrow; those Decepticons must be having a hard time playing nice."

"Or they've already gotten him completely on their side." Arcee replied darkly. "What Miko said though, is that you're only stake in this? To get a boy you like?"

"It's…complicated I guess." Sierra said nervously. "He's the only boy who's ever left me hanging." She said and reframed from mentioning that it was also the day she caught Jack talking to Arcee. She supposed the real reason was the challenge, but she knew she would likely leave him once she accomplished her goal.

"That is quite a goal; do you plan to take the credit once you get your hands on Jack?" Arcee questioned sarcastically.

Sierra frowned. "Hey, I already have Miko to insult me; I don't need any more of it." She said crossing her arms. She glanced around the neighbourhood to make sure no one was watching. "You can't stay in the garage, so why don't you wait out here?" she questioned.

"Fine." Arcee snapped.

The garage door came sliding up and Sierra tried her best to block Arcee from view as her father looked around, his brow furrowing. "Were you talking to someone?" he asked ad saw the headlights of a motorcycle. "Sierra, what's that behind you?"

Sierra blinked and looked back as though she was just noticing the Autobot. "Oh, it's a motorcycle that my friend brought me. She wanted me to stash it here because her parents aren't exactly thrilled."

Her father's brow furrowed deeper. "When did Maggie get a motorcycle? But then you said she got a job, so I'm guessing her parents _wouldn't_ be too happy."

"It's just for a little while, at least until her parents calm down about it." Sierra said putting her hands together. "Please? I promise I won't go on a joy ride."

Her father looked contemplative for a moment before he sighed. "Her parents _know_ she got the motorcycle, right?" he asked and Sierra nodded. "Okay, it can stay, but I'd better not catch you riding that bike." He said warningly.

"I got it, dad." Sierra replied demurely.

Her father's face relaxed. "Was there anything else you wanted to tell me, Princess?"

"No," Sierra shifted nervously on her feet, "there's nothing else." She said and her father nodded before he closed the door. Sierra turned back around and looked at Arcee. "Keep your voice down, we almost got caught."

"Wow, you lied so well I'd think you'd had practice." Arcee said flatly.

Sierra shifted once more as she walked back to the house, her lips pressing together as the blue Autobot wasn't far off the mark. She would have to call Maggie and ease her into going along with her lie; she certainly couldn't tell her father the truth after all. What parent could believe something like this?

* * *

June could hardly believe it, but she had just witnessed Cory _transform_ into a giant robot. Jack had certainly mentioned it, but to actually _see_ the transformation was something else. She wondered how he was able to do it. She placed a hand on her chest to calm her racing heart.

"Yeah," Jack said from beside her, "I couldn't believe it either." He said and paused, his expression going a bit sheepish. "Sorry, I completely forgot. Cory, this is my mom, June Darby."

"Mrs. Darby." Cory intoned.

"Ms." June replied faintly.

Cory tilted his head, but didn't comment on it if he found the correction strange. "We must not keep Lord Starscream waiting." He said and they made their way toward the giant ship in a canyon just outside of Jasper. "I could carry you both." He said without any preamble.

June blinked, and she saw out of the corner of her eye that Jack blushed. She remembered the fear of being scaled down the Cliffside, and was in no hurry to go through that once more. "No, we can keep up." She said and Cory nodded. They turned out to be a bit early as they had seen in the drive toward the canyon the ship going in for a landing at the bottom of it. She glanced around as they boarded the ship, there wasn't much in the hangar, but when they reached the halls, she had the feeling the entire ship must be purple in color. Were there any other rooms that were different?

"We're here." Cory spoke as they reached a room at the end of the hall.

June blinked as she stared up at the large metal doors that were closed. "How do we get in?"

"It is motion activated." Cory replied and stepped forward, the door sliding open as he did so.

June peered around once more as she and Jack walked into the room. There were several desks, with machines on them, but whatever tools they used was out of her sight on the floor. "Where do we go?"

"You both go up there." A new voice called and June looked over at the doors where a silver robot entered through.

"And you must be Starscream." She said and the robot stared down at her.

"Yes, I understand you wanted to see me earlier?" he questioned.

June nodded and stepped forward, though she kept the uncertainty and intimidation she felt out of her voice. "I understand you did tests on my son to see if he might be ill, correct?" she questioned and Starscream nodded. "Have you gotten any results?"

"As a matter of fact," Starscream said like he was just realizing this, "it should be done by now. I was about to contact…Cory afterwards, but here you both are." He chuckled lightly and walked over to the machine at the side of the room and strange glyphs appeared on the screen.

Cory knelt down and opened his palms, Jack stepping toward him and allowing the robot to pick him up. June bit her lip hesitantly, but she wanted to be eye-level when Starscream gave the verdict about Jack. She let Cory pick her up, and she clenched her fists as she was suddenly off the ground and shut her eyes before feeling something solid under her feet. She watched Cory stand to the side when Starscream gave him a look and it was clear of any animosity he'd gazed at Cory with.

"It seems…it is not fatal." Starscream said, but there was a strain in his voice, but June was too relieved by this too care. "It appears the deeper readings I've done and the blood sample I took has given me a very conclusive verdict; Jack's power was ingrained, suggesting while you stayed in your domicile, the radiation affected Jack while he was developing."

June glanced at Jack worriedly. "So there's no chance it'll go away?"

Starscream shook his head, his expression neutral. "No, there is no way to extract this from him."

"What about my mom? How come she doesn't have the same powers I do?" Jack questioned.

"She has undoubtedly changed like you have," Starscream explained, "your power is more pronounced, manifesting in a physical manner. This is the reason you were able to give…Cory, a spark; I believe you may have been affecting him through some means, most likely physical contact." He said and paused to let Jack absorb this information before he continued. "In you, the Allspark readings are there, but in your mother, she has substantially more of its energy."

June furrowed her brow in worry. "Just how much more?"

Starscream blinked before picking up a scanner lying next to them and held it up for emphasis. "If I were to scan you, the readings would register you as the Allspark itself. It would account for your illnesses; your body must have been changing to adjust to accommodate the power within you. I will have to do tests to be sure, of course."

"This Allspark power, it could fade over time right?" June questioned. "My illnesses went away." She said and paused as the realization sunk in. "Unless that just meant whatever changes were going on were finished."

"I would suspect so." Starscream replied and held the scanner up to June. "Hold still, this won't hurt a bit." He said and June stilled as she felt a tingle from being scanned. "We still have the issue of your housing transfer…"

June thought of their house, and of the rumors that people had moved out because they were getting sick all the time. Was she the only one who'd stayed in the house so long that it really changed her without her noticing anything? Suddenly those rumors weren't so far-fetched. "There were other people who lived there, what about them?"

Starscream grimaced. "I will check." He said and paused. "What of Jack's co-creator?"

"He isn't around anymore." June said firmly. "I don't know where he might be."

"I see." Starscream said absently, sounding like he truly didn't care. "Perhaps you two will be the only humans who have this." He said and retrieved a small vial and syringe. "Now, about that transfer…"

"I just found out that my son could have died, about alien robots, and about what happened to us all in such a short time." June said calmly. "I'm trying very hard to remain calm and rational; I don't need to speak about such a thing just afterwards."

Starscream for his part seemed to take this in stride. "I see." He said neutrally. "Very well, I will need time to test your samples as well, as you've been exposed to the Allspark's radiation much longer than your offspring has. We shall discuss what comes after later." He said and after taking a blood sample from June, he waved Cory away. "Take them away."

Cory nodded and held his hands out to June and Jack, who allowed him to gather them both up and placed them on the floor. June still couldn't get over the feeling of not having something solid beneath her feet, and wondered how many more times they were going to be picked up and moved. Her eyes were downcast as she followed Cory and Jack through the halls; she had to come to a decision about their housing soon, but she had no idea how long she'd have to think about it for.

She was under no illusions that things would drastically change, more so than how things were already. Jack had control over his emotions enough, but now that they knew the alien reason for its presence at all, then maybe he could learn to control the power, so it wouldn't keep him from living a normal life. It didn't make sense that she didn't have this power too, but now that she was aware it was because of an outside force, perhaps leaving would be a better option.

"You said the Allspark under our house was almost drained; if it was removed, then would the house eventually be livable?" she asked.

"From my own scans, the house itself was not affected. It appears the radiation merely infected organic matter, as your vehicle also showed no signs of radiation." Cory explained.

"Well, that would be awkward, wouldn't it?" Jack questioned.

June didn't want to think of the implications at the moment, as she was still trying to process what had happened so far. "I suppose it would. Could you take us back to the motel? I still don't feel comfortable with us living there until my own results come back."

"You could still live on the Nemesis." Cory pointed out, but June crossed her arms in response. Cory paused for a moment, like he was going to argue his point, but merely continued walking.

June was not looking forward to the hike back up the cliff.

* * *

For all outward appearances, his mother seemed to be taking things well. She still adamantly insisted on driving to the house and getting Cory from there, and was just as insistent about driving him to KO Burger for his afternoon shift. He knew appearances could be deceiving, _extremely_ well now, and that she was still processing everything that happened.

Although, she did say that he was grounded from going anywhere but school and work from disobeying her rules. He figured she didn't punish Cory because what else could she do? Cory was stuck in both vehicle mode, and in the garage. He did ask them before they left to pour the glowing cube into his gas tank from his truck; apparently that was what energon looked like. Since Jack knew the energon didn't affect him, he done the pouring, as he wasn't so sure about his mother.

Afterwards, when he reached his work place, Jack clocked in and went over to the cash register, as it was his turn to operate this thing. He saw Maggie at the drive-through window, her expression sullen as she leaned against the counter with her arms crossed. Jack could only muster up a little pity for her, because she was going to hear the cracks about her working here. _'She is Sierra's best friend; that would probably stop most of them.'_ Jack thought and the person who'd been looking after the register nodded at him before going into the kitchen.

Jack noticed the redhead coming in through the front door, and straightened up from the slouch he'd been in. "Hey, Vince."

"We're not friends, Darby." Vince said narrowing his eyes.

Jack looked evenly back at him. "I know that."

Vince stared at him a moment longer, before his gaze slid over to the blonde by the drive-through window and he smiled derisively. "Hello, _Margaret."_

Maggie hissed at him. "It's _Maggie._ You know this, you _all_ know this." She said huffily.

"Whatever." Vince said flippantly as he turned his attention back to Jack. "I'll have the number 1 combo, and a Pepsi."

"Will there be anything else?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, where's Christine?" Vince questioned. "You get rid of it?"

"Him," Jack said once he realized the redhead was talking about Cory, "and no, I didn't. He's just a bit…temperamental. Now, you want anything else?"

Vince looked like he was about to say something, but thought better of it. "No."

"Coming right up." Jack said and rung up the order. "$5.45." he said holding out his hand. In the background, he heard Maggie arguing with a customer. "Hang in there, Maggie, you'll suffer through it. We all have." He said dryly.

"Bite me, Jack!" Maggie retorted.

"I would, but I don't know where you've been." Jack shot back and Maggie grumbled to herself.

Vince smirked slightly as he handed Jack the money. "You ask Sierra out yet?"

Jack was aware of Maggie glaring at him out of the corner of his eye, and shook his head. "No, we talked yesterday, but I don't think it could work anymore." He said and Maggie looked neutral now.

Vince though looked a little too interested. "Really, why not?"

"I thought we weren't friends?" Jack asked, but Vince only shrugged. "It…just wouldn't." he said, as there was nothing else he could come up with at the moment. The Autobots had gotten to Sierra, and if they ever did go out, he didn't know if it wouldn't be a trap of some kind. "Besides, I couldn't even if I wanted too, I'm grounded. My mom found out I took my car for a drive." He said and saw Vince glaring at him. "Don't worry; your name never came up."

"Good, 'cause if it did…" Vince trailed off threateningly.

"I know, I know." Jack said rolling his eyes and saw the cook behind the counter to the kitchen hold up a paper bag. He walked over and brought the bag back before he got the drink ready. "There. And thank you for your patronage." He said sarcastically.

"Just for that, you don't get a tip." Vince said smirking and made his way to the door.

Jack rolled his eyes and leaned on the counter, but he still noticed the look Maggie was giving him. "Is there something I can help you with, or are you gonna keep staring at me like a total creep?"

Maggie's eyes widened and she scowled at him. "I overhead you and Sierra yesterday." She admitted reluctantly. "Not that I'm complaining, but what changed your mind?"

"It's complicated." Jack said simply. "What's your deal with me anyway?"

"Nothing personal, I'm just very critical of guys she dates." Maggie replied. "She's my friend, and I won't let her get hurt."

"So even I was your friend, you'd still hate me for trying?" Jack asked.

"Even then." Maggie said dryly. "But don't think I didn't hear _this_ conversation either, so I'm keeping my eye on you."

"You'd be the only girl who has." Jack retorted and Maggie rolled her eyes before going back to the window. He turned back to the register and waited for another customer to order their meal.

* * *

Starscream let out a yell as he slammed his fists down on the counter, glaring down at it as the results of the blood sample whirled in the machine, but it wasn't that he was angry about. No, while the boy's existence was now going to be an inevitable addition, he couldn't believe he had to keep them _both_ alive. The Allspark radiation and energy had infused with her right down to her DNA, most likely how it infected Jack as well. He couldn't remove it from her, either of them, because of the fact they would die, and the energy would die with them.

The Allspark itself was now little more than a trinket, so even if he tried to excavate it, it wouldn't be very valuable. Not to mention the Autobots that would no doubt notice what was going on if he blew the house up to get the cube.

Starscream could adapt though, and even now his processor was going through every possibility but the killing option. He already had Jack fooled into thinking that the Autobots would harm him if they captured him. He just needed the mother to be on his side as well, and with her son as reassurance they could be 'trusted' she would likely see them as the better option. The drone would be useful in that endeavour, but the results of _his_ scan worried him. The spark itself was a big tip off to the power the boy held, but it also appeared to bear a side-effect.

There were always inklings if whether or not the Allspark was sentient, but he had no doubts this little development in Jack was proof of that. The Decepticons and Autobots fought over not only the energon, but the Allspark until it was jettisoned into space by that accursed Prime. Now it barely held any power, and it seemed the side-effect was a little something extra he'd found in the drone's processor.

It was like not only had a spark been formed, but so had a mind of its own-and the devotion was a bit more developed.

Starscream didn't know what it would do to a Cybertronian that already had a mind of their own, but he wasn't going to volunteer himself, and though he didn't mind, he couldn't throw one of the Vehicons or Eradicons to the boy. One soldier slipping out of his control and showing loyalty to another was not a repeat he wanted to happen.

On an _Autobot_ though, well, there were some interesting possibilities with that.

Smirking, and his anger mostly forgotten, Starscream chuckled to himself as he walked over to the machine where the blood test was.

* * *

"Are you sure I can't stay at the motel?" Jack asked and glanced out at the school. He and his mother had rented the motel out for another few nights, and his mother had said something about doing the laundry with some of her time off. He had been dreading the Monday when he would see the Autobots go rolling up to drop Miko and Raf off. "I could even help you with the laundry."

June shook her head. "You'll be safe here, and Cory and I are just a call away."

Jack paused. "You mean I get to drive Cory?"

"Only in an emergency." June said sternly and Jack nodded. "I know this is asking a lot, but I need you to be brave."

Jack nodded and gave his mother a brief hug before getting out of the car. "See ya."

"I'll pick you up after school." June said and drove off.

Jack watched her go, but quickened his pace to avoid seeing Miko and Raf. He took his backpack off once he reached his locker and grabbed the books he needed and then he just had to get to his homeroom, but he'd still see Sierra there. Jack shook his head, deciding he'd just try and ignore her for now, at least until she came to her senses. By then though, it might be too late.

He was conflicted on what to do.

He closed his locker, and reeled back in surprise as Vince was standing on the other side. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here for? Don't want the truancy officers on my tail if I skip class." He retorted.

Jack scowled, but caught himself before the lights could start to flicker. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

"I know what you meant, but it's just more fun to rile you up." Vince said smirking. It fell a moment later. "What's the deal with you and Sierra?"

"Didn't you hear me yesterday?" Jack replied. "And why do you keep _asking?_ You want to ask Sierra out? Go ahead, but you'll have to get by Maggie first apparently."

Vince's nose seemed to turn up for a moment before he spoke. "Ask her out, what made you think I wanted to do that?"

Jack was blindsided for a moment. "Well," he said recovering quickly, "you keep _asking_ what's going on between us. I figured you were trying to find out how things were before you actually asked her."

Vince snorted. "As if I needed to run it by you, if I wanted to go out with someone, I'd ask them myself, not get someone's _permission."_ He said haughtily, but paused and his demeanour seemed to shift slightly. "How long are you grounded for?"

Jack raised a brow, but there didn't seem to be any perceivable alternative motive. "A week, can't go anywhere except school, and work. She's also driving me around to make sure I can't try and sneak my car out of the garage."

"So you'd be free next Monday then?" Vince asked nonchalantly.

Jack's brow rose further, but he still didn't see anything that could lead to him being the punch line of some kind of joke. "Yeah, why?"

"What are you doing your science project on?" Vince asked abruptly.

Jack was taken back a little and in his surprise, the lights began to flicker, but he quickly regained control of himself. "Probably an engine." he said and muttered, "Though I have no idea how to even _make_ one."

Vince appeared to have heard him and straightened up. "I know some things about engines." He said casually. "I could come over and help you out. Since your Christine has such an awesome engine, we could try and make one of those."

Jack paused in thought, even though he highly doubted that whatever Cory's engine was made of was would be on earth. Maybe if he asked Starscream for the parts, but then he'd have to deal with the questions about where he got the material. "Nah, we could use your car, as I don't think yours is going to spontaneously try and run us over in the driveway."

Vince rolled his eyes. "That car is either possessed, or malfunctioned."

Jack shrugged. "We'll see." He said and smiled slightly. "Let me get back to you, as I'm going to have to try very hard to convince my mom to let me break the grounding for a little while."

Vince nodded and walked down the hall, while Jack bemusedly wondered what had just happened.


End file.
